From Stan Oklobdzija:
Sacramento police and the California Highway Patrol officers are diverting traffic on eastbound Interstate 80 at Truxel Road, where a man is threatening to jump off an overpass, police dispatchers said.
The call came in about 10 p.m., police said.
From Sandy Louey:
A 40-year-old Elk Grove man who watching "To Catch A Predator" before his arrest was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison for luring an underage girl for sex.
Todd Robert Dixon, who must register as a sex offender for his entire life, was convicted in August of offering money to the 17-year-old girl for sex, according to a press release from the Yolo County District Attorney's Office.
In December 2007, he wrote a text message to the daughter of a friend which read: "U with me 1 Night 200 or More." The girl told her parents, who called the West Sacramento Police Department, the DA's office said.
Pretending to be the girl, law enforcement responded to Dixon's text message. A meeting was arranged at the Motel 6 in West Sacramento where Dixon was waiting to pay the girl to have sex with him. Beer and sexual lubricant also were found inside the motel room, authorities said.
On the TV in the room was "To Catch A Predator," the NBC show that uses hidden cameras to trap men seeking sex with underage girls, the DA's office said.
From Sandy Louey:
The Redding Police Department has seen an increase in the number of counterfeit bills reported in the past few weeks, police reported today.
The counterfeit bills are mostly $20, but some have been $100 bills. Pens used by many businesses to check the bills may not be able to detect the two counterfeit techniques that have been used, according to a press release from the Police Department.
Counterfeiters wash the printing off of a real $5 or $10 bill and print a scanned image of a higher denomination bill on the washed bill. These counterfeit bills can be detected by holding them to a light and looking for the watermark and security thread, which will be incorrect for the higher denomination, police said.
Police said the color shifting ink in the lower right corner of the bill will not change color when viewed from different angles as it does on genuine currency.
The second counterfeit method is a multi-step printing process. These bills lack blue and red fibers. The watermark is of poor quality and can be seen without holding the bill up to the light.
When held up to a UV light, the security thread doesn't glow the correct color, which is different for each denomination from $5 to $100, police said.
Police are reminding that when accepting multiple bills for cash payment to check for duplicate serial numbers, which are different on genuine currency.
From David Richie:
Three men bolted during a traffic stop about 4 p.m. Saturday, prompting an intensive search along Fair Oaks Boulevard near California Avenue in Carmichael, according to information released today.
A deputy spotted a vehicle going the wrong way down a street but before he could pull it over, the driver backed into a parking lot and three men jumped out and ran away. More deputies in patrol cruisers, including a sheriff's K-9 unit searched the area while the sheriff's helicopter circled overhead.
Deputies found parolee Thomas Wayne Bishop, 33, hiding in a business complex. Deputies said they determined that he was driving on a suspended license.
A second suspect was detained. Because he was injured during the chase, the second suspect was taken to a local hospital instead of to jail and not identified in the incident summary. The third man got away.
A search of the vehicle yielded several pieces of clothing with price tags and security devices still attached, deputies said.
Bishop remains in Sacramento County Main Jail on a charge of suspicion of parole violation as well as numerous misdemeanor traffic violations.
From Sandy Louey:
The Nevada County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday reported finding the bodies of an elderly couple in what is suspected to be a murder-suicide.
Around noon Wednesday, the sheriff's communications center received a call from a family member who lived from out of the area asking for a welfare check on an elderly couple because the family had not heard from them in several days. The couple lived in the Peardale area, according to a press release.
Deputies went to the home and found an elderly man and woman with fatal gunshot sounds. It appears that the man shot the woman before turning the gun on himself, the Sheriff's Department said.
The deaths are still under investigation and the names of the pair aren't being released until the next of kin has been notified and positive identification has been made, authorities said.
From Niesha Lofing and Kim Minugh
A 40-year-old man faces criminal charges after leading Sacramento County sheriff's deputies on a chase through northeast Sacramento early this morning.
A deputy noticed the stolen two-door Honda Accord in a parking lot near Howe and El Camino avenues about 6:22 a.m. and, as he waited for backup units, saw three people get into the car and drive away, said sheriff's Capt. Scott Jones.
The deputies tried to stop the car, but the driver wouldn't pull over and instead led authorities on a chase along the streets, onto the Capital City Freeway and back onto county roads.
The driver turned off the vehicle's lights and drove through a neighborhood before crashing into a truck about 6:40 a.m. near El Camino Avenue and Lexington Street.
The crash crumpled part of the Honda and prevented the driver from getting out. Sacramento firefighters were called to extricate the driver, Jones said.
The driver suffered major injuries, and the two passengers also were hurt. They all were taken to UC Davis Medical Center and are being treated.
The two passengers were interviewed and will not face charges, Jones said. The driver, Tron Pham, was arrested on suspicion of auto theft, receiving stolen property, felony evasion causing injury, and violating parole, Jones said.
The driver of the truck was not injured.
From Sandy Louey:
Woodland police are searching for three boys in connection with a burglary, a hit and run, and a vehicle theft.
At 6:44 a.m. Monday, police were called to the 1300 block of Colette Way about a vehicle accident between a Ford and a parked Lincoln. The driver and two passengers in the Ford fled on foot toward Campbell Park, according to a press release.
The Ford was stolen from the garage of a nearby home in the 900 block of Towse Drive. Officers who went to the home discovered it was burglarized while a man was asleep, police said.
The man was taken to the collision scene and identified items stolen from his home. Additional stolen property was located in the Ford. That property was taken from a vehicle burglarized that morning in the 1600 block of Gillette Drive.
That man also identified his property, police said.
The suspects are described as Latino juveniles. The first was a light-skinned boy who was 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed 120 pounds. He wore a hooded grey sweater. The second, who was 5 feet 6 inches tall and 120 pounds, was wearing a white jersey. The third boy, who wore a hooded gray sweatshirt, was 5 feet 6 inches tall and had a thin build, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the police at (530) 666-2411 or (530) 661-7800.
From Sandy Louey:
Woodland police are looking for an armed man who robbed a man of his wallet and cell phone Tuesday night.
Around 10 p.m., a 23-year-old man told police he was standing on Woodland Avenue between Walnut and Cleveland streets when a man approached him, according to a press release.
The two had a short conversation after which the other man pointed a handgun at him and robbed him.
The robber left on foot and was last seen running south towards Beamer Street.
He is described as a dark-skinned man in his late 30s who weighed between 180 to 200 pounds. He had a goatee and wore a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at (530) 666-2411 or (530) 661-7800.
From David Richie:
Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies investigated a strange incident Friday night involving an unknown caller who called a "specialty store" on Greenback Lane in Orangevale.
The man stated that he was watching the business's young female employees from outside and threatened to shoot them with a rifle.
The caller also made lewd demands over the telephone, according to an incident summary released Tuesday.
Investigators think the same caller contacted businesses in Carmichael and Davis during the same hour.
From Sandy Louey:
Woodland police are looking for two men responsible for an armed robbery Tuesday night.
At 8:30 p.m., police were called out to the Gas Plaza at 454 N. East Street. Two men wearing hoods went into the business. One robber with a semi-automatic handgun demanded cash, which was handed over, according to a press release.
The two left in a black two-door sports type vehicle. The men were described as white males between 35 and 45 years old, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at (530) 661-7800.
Several stolen widescreen televisions and almost $7,000 worth of stolen tools were recovered Tuesday when an alert Lincoln resident spotted what she felt was suspicious activity, police said today.
A pickup truck was backed halfway into a neighbor's garage on Tara Bella Drive and the garage door was pulled down to the bed of the truck. The worried resident called Lincoln police.
Officers determined that the truck belonged to a relative of the neighbor but they also suspected that televisions and other property might be stolen. Lincoln police started comparing notes with Rocklin officers who were investigating the burglary of some model homes and vehicle along the Lincoln-Rocklin border.
Officers said they eventually arrested Eric Montes Swartz, 25, and Michael Vern Inahara, Jr. 23, both of Modesto on numerous charges, including suspicion of burglary, conspiracy and possession of stolen property.
Swartz and Inahara remain in Placer County Jail with their bail set at $165,000 and $185,000 respectively.
From David Richie:
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department detectives gave some crime victims a late Christmas present Tuesday when they returned much of the property taken during approximately 26 residential burglaries that occurred in Fair Oaks, Orangevale and Citrus Heights.
Two suspects are in jail on bonds of more than $1 million each.
"We did a big property showing at our Garfield office," said Detective Susan Miller, who worked the case with her partner Detective Dave Clegg.
The random daytime burglaries started in September and ended last week when Miller said she and Clegg arrested Orangevale residents Kyle Sterling Daniels, 18, and Brandon Steele Immoos, 21.
Both men remain in Sacramento County Main Jail, each facing over a dozen counts of suspicion of burglary. Bail has been set at $1,380,000 for Immoos and $1,130,000 for Daniels.
"They are going to be in custody for a long time," Miller said.
Jewelry was the main target during most of the break-ins but victims also lost laptop computers, cameras, video game systems and similar items.
The investigators got a break when a resident spotted some of his stolen property at a second hand store near the corner of Madison Avenue and Kenneth Avenue. Officers closed in when the two men returned to try to sell more suspected stolen property.
Editor's note: Notebook is an occasional series on slices of life found by The Bee's police reporters.
From Stan Oklobdzija:
For the past 10 years, Theresa Fluty and her husband Matt have taught the way of the harmonious spirit through martial arts from a small storefront in Sacramento.
As Aikido sensei's, the couple show students to how to redirect an attacker's blow away from them, using an assailant's own strength to take them down. Meeting force with force, they teach, will lead to your defeat. Rather, as Theresa Fluty said, receive an attack and "respond with love."
On Christmas Day, the Fluty's dojo, The Aikido Center at 2417 21st Street in Sacramento, was vandalized. Around noon, someone threw a large rock through the dojo's glass door, smashing it to pieces and spraying glass all over the mats.
"I was pissed," Fluty said of her first reaction when she and Matt came back from lunch to find their school vandalized. "I thought, 'Damn it, it's Christmas Day, and I have to spend it cleaning glass.'"
But anger soon dissolved into more constructive thought, she said.
She called some students who live nearby, who arrived quickly with boards to repair the hole and tools to help clean the glass, she said.
"It was a lot of work," she said. "The mats are tatami (traditional Japanese woven straw) and the way they lay together...we had to sweep and pick up all the glass and get all around the edges."
The work was hard, Fluty said, but gratifying.
"A dojo is a place of the way," she said. "It's a sacred place to practice Aikido... When you work for the dojo, it's fulfilling."
When the last shard of glass was picked up, Fluty sat down at the computer and wrote an email to the dojo's 75 students.
"The dojo has been attacked, it's space violated with deliberate force and intention to do harm. Let's respond to this attack with active, heartfelt Love," she wrote. "Send the dojo love, blessing and light. Send the attacker love, blessing and light."
"The attacker attacked, we felt it, we received it, we went into action and took care of it," Fluty said. "I feel like we handled it in the best Aikido way."
As Morihei Ueshiba, who founded the martial art almost 100 years ago, said, "If your heart is large enough to envelop your adversaries, you can see right through them."
From Stan Oklobdzija:
The Sacramento County Probation Department arrested two juveniles on Tuesday on weapons related charges after both were found in possession of loaded weapons, including a semi-automatic TEC 9 machine pistol, probation officials said.
According to a press release, the youths, aged 17 and 16, were arrested following a probation check on the 17-year-old near the corner of Lemon Hill Avenue and Stockton Boulevard as part of a routine juvenile probation check. That youth was found in possession of several weapons, including the TEC 9, the release said. A search of that youth's home found ammunition and a bullet-resistant vest, the release said.
A further investigation turned up the 16-year-old, the release said, who is believe to be involved with the weapons.
Both youths are in custody, the release said.
Here's what the Urban Dictionary - a Web-based dictionary of slang words, phrases, and names based on user submissions - says about the TEC 9: "The Tec-9 sub machine gun is pretty much the modern day Tommy gun. It's used by hundreds of street gangs and terrorists. Though the full-auto version is extinct, you can by them in some places of America in gun stores in semi-automatic for very cheap (because they are not very accurate or reliable), but they can be converted to shoot full-auto very easily, that's why they are so popular, and they are also light and compact and pack a high volume of firepower."
Here's what Wikipedia - a Web-based dictionary based on user submissions - says about the TEC 9:The Intratec TEC-DC9 (also known simply as the TEC-9) is a blowback-operated, semi-automatic 9x19mm Parabellum caliber firearm, classified by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms as a handgun.
Designed by Intratec, an American offshoot of Interdynamic AB, it is made of inexpensive molded polymers and stamped steel parts. Magazines with 10-, 20-, 32-, 36- and upwards of 50-round capacities are available.
There are three different models, all of which are commonly referred to as the TEC-9, although only one model was actually sold under that name.
For more, click here.
Woodland police have arrested three people in connection with a number of burglaries and thefts.
On Dec. 19, police officers assigned to investigate a recent increase in burglaries and thefts arrested Diana Savala who was staying at the Cinderella Inn, 99 West Main St. according to a press release issued Tuesday.
Savala, 26, of Woodland was arrested on an active arrest warrant and for possession of a drug pipe. In a search, seized jewelry and gift cards believing they were stolen property, according to authorities.
Officers received information that jewelry recently had been pawned. Some items matched thosein recent burglaries. Officers met with a burglary victim who identified the jewelry.
Police said Laura Jimenez, 50, of Woodland was identified as having pawned the jewelry and was arrested for possession of stolen property.
Savala and Jimenez were associated through Albert Avalos, 23, of Woodland, officers said. Avalos was arrested the night before as a parolee-at-large, police said.
Avalos was arrested on suspicion of 10 counts of burglaries and four counts of stealing a vehicle.
Savala was arrested on suspicion of nine counts of burglary, four counts of vehicle theft and and two counts of possession of stolen property.
Jimenez was arrested on four counts of possession of stolen property.
The seized property can be viewed from 5 to 8 p.m. Jan. 9 and 9 a.m. to noon Jan. 10 in the Police Department's community room,1000 Lincoln Ave., Woodland.
From Sandy Louey:
The Placer County Sheriff's Department is closing service centers in Granite Bay and Lake Tahoe because of budget cutbacks.
The service center at 4120 Douglas Blvd. in Granite Bay is scheduled to shut down Jan. 9. The Kings Beach service center and the Carnelian Bay patrol office at Lake Tahoe already have closed, according to a release from the sheriff's department.
Dena Erwin, spokeswoman for the sheriff's department, said the closures does not affect service levels, but will help reduce overhead costs by saving on rent and utilities.
Residents were able to file reports and meet up with a deputy at the service centers. The Granite Bay service center operations will be moved to the South Placer Substation at 6140 Horseshoe Bar Road in Loomis.
The Kings Beach and Carnelian Bay operations were relocated to the Tahoe City Substation at 2150 N. Lake Road in Tahoe City.
From Sandy Louey:
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department is investigating five video game stores in the southern part of county that were robbed in the past 10 days.
Detectives believe the robberies may be related. In each of them, at least two men entered the store armed with a shotgun and demanded money from the store and customers, according to a press release from the sheriff's department.
According to the sheriff's department, the robberies all occurred between 6 and 9 p.m. (A photo from one of the robberies is below.)
The robberies were on: Dec. 20 in the 4400 block of 47th Ave. in the county; Dec. 21 in the 8200 block of Bruceville Road in Sacramento; Dec. 22 at the GameStop at 8250 Calvine Road in the county; and Dec. 27 at the GameStop stores at 9688 Bruceville Road in Elk Grove and 8250 Calvine Road in the county.
The robbers are described as African American or Latino men ages 18 to early 20s, between 5 feet 9 to 6 feet 4 inches tall and about 200 pounds.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's detectives at (916) 874-5115 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP.
Callers can be anonymous and may eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. Additional reward money of up to $5,000 may also be available.
From Diana Lambert:
The Elk Grove Police Department will conduct a sobriety and drivers license checkpoint beginning at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Educational materials will be handed out to motorists.
Funding for the checkpoint has been provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety.
Residents can call the Elk Grove Police Department at (916) 714-5111 to report suspected drunk drivers.
From Kim Minugh:
A year-and-a-half after Mary Ourk was gunned down in a drive-by midtown shooting, Sacramento police have identified a suspect.
Dominick West, 27, (left photo) was arrested today in connection with Ourk's fatal shooting June 2, 2007. He has been in custody since March, when he was arrested by the FBI's Innocence Lost Task Force for a local case of sex trafficking of a minor.
Police said Ourk's killing was random and unprovoked.
The task force is a federal effort aimed at domestic trafficking of juveniles for prostitution and includes members of the Sacramento Police Department and the FBI.
Ourk was 21 years old when she died. She had just left The Empire nightclub with a friend when the driver behind her began honking. She pulled over near 12th and W streets, believing she knew the person honking.
The car pulled alongside Ourk's, and the driver shot her.
Her killing shocked the nightclub scene and baffled police. They had only this vague clue: the shooter was a man with short hair who fled in a white four-door sedan.
Ourk grew up in Stockton, surrounded by a close-knit Cambodian community, her family and friends told The Bee shortly after her death. She moved to Sacramento after graduating from Stagg High School in 2004, and was living with her high school sweetheart, Daryl Hale.
Ourk had been attending American River College and working at an accounting firm when she died. She was described as happy, friendly and a lover of music, dancing and her Chihuahua, Rufus.
The U.S. Attorneys Office and the Carol Sund/Carrington Foundation also assisted in this case.
From Niesha Lofing:
Rocklin police are racking up drunken driving arrests as they head into the new year.
Drunken driving arrests this year are up 14 percent over last year, and officers added another arrest to their tally Monday.
Officers responded to a traffic collision call at 3:38 p.m. on Pacific Street near Sunset Boulevard, Lt. Lon Milka said in a news release.
One vehicle had rear-ended another, and the driver who appeared to have caused the crash allegedly displayed symptoms of alcohol intoxication, Milka said.
Renee Francis Schultz, 56, of Rocklin was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving. She was booked into Placer County Mail Jail in Auburn and posted bail.
The driver of the second car was taken to Sutter Roseville Medical Center for treatment of a possible broken arm and complained of pain, Milka said.
From Niesha Lofing:
Police are looking for three people who assaulted and robbed a Woodland man at a Woodland apartment complex Monday.
Woodland police officers were called at 1:57 a.m. Monday to the Lincoln Manor Apartments on a report of a man being injured by a woman, a teen girl and a man, Sgt. Frank Ritter said in a news release.
Juan Felipe Rodriguez, 24, went to the complex at 154 Lincoln Avenue with a juvenile female to visit the girl's friends, police said. As the two walked through the complex's breezeway, three people assaulted Rodriguez and stole his wallet, car keys and vehicle, Ritter said.
California Highway Patrol officers later found the car unoccupied on the side of Interstate 5 near the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Bridge.
Rodriguez suffered a head injury and was taken to Woodland Memorial Hospital where he was treated and released.
Police have not yet indicated what may have motivated the assault and robbery.
Rodriguez identified the adult female subject as Sarah Parlette, 18, who has no address. Parlette is described as black, 5-foot-5, 195 to 200 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
She is considered dangerous and should not be approached, Ritter said.
Rodriguez also identified the juvenile female to officers, but her identity is not being released due to her age.
The male suspect is described as white, in his early 20s, 6 feet tall, 145 pounds with light brown and blonde hair. He was last seen wearing a red sweatshirt.
Anyone with information regarding the investigation is asked to call police at (530) 666-2411 or (530) 661-7800. Callers may remain anonymous.
From David Richie:
Holiday car burglars targeted mostly luxury sedans and big sports utility vehicles and El Dorado County sheriff's deputies took numerous reports on Christmas morning and throughout the weekend.
Portable GPS units seemed to be on many of the thieves' wish lists as were iPods and laptop computers. They were willing to smash and grab if necessary but deputies noted that most of the thefts were out of cars left unlocked in residential driveways with valuable items still inside.
The Highland Village area of El Dorado Hills was especially hard hit with multiple thefts reported on Loch Way, Kilt Circle and Amer Way.
Nearby, on Embarcadero Drive, a man told deputies that he had left about $1,500 in Christmas presents in the trunk of his car. Everything was gone when he came out on Christmas morning, according to an incident summary.
A GPS unit, laptop computer and a computer keyboard were the main prizes taken from a car on Calais Way during the same time frame.
Several break-ins also were noted in the Diamond Springs area around Fowler Lane and Diamonte Robles Court.
No arrests are noted in any of the incidents but deputies did take report of suspicious juveniles walking through the area in Diamond Springs were some of the thefts occurred.
All the action evidently made at least one set of thieves hungry. Deputies were called to the Millcreek Market on Pleasant Valley Road about 6 p.m. Saturday.
Two men reported that they left their BMW unlocked for just a few minutes while they ran inside to buy some ice. When they returned to the car, they discovered that someone had got away with three pizzas they had just picked up.
Editor's note: Notebook is an occasional series on slices of life found by The Bee's police reporters.
From David Richie:
Law enforcement officers are offering motorists a driving no-no list to help them spot suspected drunken drivers. But are innocent motorists going to be caught in the dragnet? Some of the DUI telltale signs are no-brainers but others may be things we do from time to time, just to survive.
Here are some of the things officers look for an indication of possible drunken driving (and other possible explanations for that behavior):
DUI indicator: Weaving/swerving in and out of the lane.
Other explanation: But, officer, I was just dodging the idiot who cut me off. Go chase him.
DUI indicator: Traveling at speeds much slower than the flow of traffic. Other explanation: Multiple choice: A. Uh, sorry officer, I just don't feel like going 80 mph today. B. I'm not drunk, I've just lived a long time and want to keep on living. C. It's an old VW, Boss. I'm lucky it rolls forward at all.
DUI indicator: Braking erratically or stopping in the lane. Other explanation: The woman in front of me just got a call on her other cell phone.
DUI indicator: Sudden stops for signal lights and slow start once they change. Other explanation: My company-funded driver's training taught me to hold off on green lights to let the red-light runners get by.
DUI indicator: Remaining at the signal lights once they turn green.
Other explanation: Maybe green is my favorite color and I want to enjoy it.
DUI indicator: Making wide turns and/or cutting the corner, striking the curb.
Other explanation: The pursuit of driving perfection can be a lonely chase.
DUI indicator: Headlights off at night or on high beams. Other explanation: Boy, you just can't please some people no matter what you do.
DUI indicator: Driving with the turn signals on.
Other explanation: I am going to turn eventually and I don't want to surprise the idiot who is tailgating me.
DUI indicator: Straddling the centerline of the road or lane lines.
Other explanation: Valley fog is a bummer.
DUI indicator: The driver looks intoxicated, starring straight ahead, face close to the windshield, and appears to by quite sleepy. Other explanation: Yo, drive your own car and quit staring at me. What are you a stalker or something?
DUI indicator: Aggressive driving, speed, tailgating and multiple lane changes or unsafe lane changes. Other explanation: I need to get away from this scary guy who keeps driving up beside me, staring at me and talking on his cell phone.
From Niesha Lofing:
A man and woman are facing criminal charges this morning for allegedly stealing parts off a broken-down car in downtown Sacramento.
Sacramento police received a call 2:30 p.m. Sunday from a citizen who reported that they saw people pushing a car into an alley near 5th and T streets, Officer Konrad Von Schoech said.
Officers detained Kenneth Freer, 48, as he allegedly tried to remove a catalytic converter from the Dodge Neon. Shannon Lynne Hancock, 37, ran from officers, he said.
Officers set up a perimeter and found Hancock hiding in nearby bushes.
Freer was arrested on suspicion of attempted grand theft, petty theft with priors, conspiracy, violation of probation and an arrest warrant out of Elk Grove, according to online jail information.
He is being held in lieu of $15,495 bail in Sacramento County Main Jail. Freer is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. today.
Hancock was arrested on suspicion of attempted grand theft, petty theft with priors, violation of probation, criminal conspiracy, an arrest warrant out of Sacrament and rearrest for burglary, online jail information states.
She is being held without bail in Sacramento County Main Jail and is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. today.
Von Schoech applauded the citizen who called police with the tip Sunday.
"We depend on citizens calling in and reporting these types of incidents," he aid. "And when they do it in a timely manner, we can catch them quickly."
From Niesha Lofing and Sandy Louey:
Police are not planning to seek charges against a 15-year-old teen girl who dropped off her friend's infant son at a south Sacramento hospital Saturday.
The teenager, an acquaintance of the baby's mother, left the 6-month-old at 6:50 p.m. with security guards at the Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center, Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong said.
"There was no indication there was anything wrong with the child," he said.
Police said the child's 17-year-old mother had asked someone to baby sit the child after she was picked up by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department as a missing person.
Leong said police don't know yet if the 15-year-old girl was the person that the mother had asked to baby sit the baby.
But, the girl ended up watching the child. She didn't know what to do with the baby and took him to hospital in an attempt to get him to someone responsible, he said.
The investigation is ongoing, but Leong said no criminal liability has been found in the case.
The infant was turned over the Child Protective Services, which will decide about the child's placement, he said.
From Sandy Louey:
A 61-year-old man classified as a sexually violent predator could be allowed to live in Sacramento County under a proposal by state officials announced Monday.
Steven Darcy Sherwood, who is slated for release from a state hospital, could be placed at a location in the 6500 block of Excelsior Road in Sacramento, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Joseph Orr is scheduled to consider the proposal, by the state Department of Mental Health, at a 1:30 p.m. January 30 hearing.
The department notified the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, the Sacramento County counsel and the District Attorney's office about the proposal on Monday.
Sherwood was convicted in 1973 of a misdemeanor lewd act on a child. In 1985, he was convicted of two felony counts of lewd and lascivious act on a child and sentenced to 10 years in state prison, according to the DA's office.
In 1993, he was convicted of a felony count of lewd and lascivious act on a child and sentenced to three years in state prison. In 1995, he was sentenced to four years in state prison after being convicted of elder abuse with force likely to cause great bodily injury, the DA's office said.
Since 1999, he has been in a state hospital receiving treatment, authorities said.
The proposed placement for Sherwood is more than a quarter of a mile away from the closest occupied residence. There are no schools, school bus stops, childcare facilities, churches, parks or other areas where children would regularly gather or liquor stores within 2,000 feet and well beyond, the DA's office said.
The DA's office said there are currently five sexually violent predators living in the county, with one of them on outpatient supervision.
The DA's office is accepting public comments about the proposed placement until Jan. 19 by calling (916) 874-4317 or by mail at P.O. Box 749, Sacramento, CA 95812.
From Sandy Louey:
Authorities said a 19-year-old man angry over a speeding ticket allegedly vandalized more than 55 mailboxes in Lake Wildwood.
The vandalism took place during the evenings of Dec. 25 and 26. With help of Lake Wildwood Security, Nevada County Sheriff's deputies arrested Nolan Gail Saturday on suspicion of felony vandalism charges, according to a press release from the sheriff's department.
Gail was upset over a ticket that he had received from security. Gail was visiting his girlfriend who lived there, the sheriff's department said.
Gail used his vehicle to ram the mailboxes, investigators said. Damage was estimated at between $8,000 and $10,000.
From Sandy Louey:
A 24-year-old man was arrested Sunday for allegedly burglarizing a home near Nevada City while the residents were asleep. Officers tracked the suspect through the snow.
At 2:11 a.m. Sunday, the Nevada County Sheriff's Department received a 911 call from a home on Pittsburg Mine Road. Residents said someone had been inside their home, according to a press release.
Deputies responded with help from the Nevada City Police Department. Someone had thrown a brick through a sliding glass door, went into the home and stole property.
Officers said they followed footprints in the snow and found William Noel Odom III hiding behind a large pine tree near a vehicle. Odom, of Marana, Arizona, was arrested on suspicion of burglary, the sheriff's department said.
From Kim Minugh:
Sacramento police are seeking a 26-year-old man wanted in connection with a Christmas morning homicide.
Edgar Carrillo is suspected of fatally shooting Francisco Torres-Fernandez, a 24-year-old North Highlands man, in the 2300 block of North Avenue in Del Paso Heights just after midnight Dec. 25, according to police Sgt. Norm Leong.
Carrillo and Torres-Fernandez apparently were arguing before the conflict escalated, ending in Torres-Fernandez's slaying, police said.
Carrillo is described as a 5-foot-5-inch tall Hispanic male weighing 155 pounds, Leong said. He might be driving a green 2000 Nissan X-Terra.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
From Andy Furillo:
A memorial fund has been set up for the family of Aman Kumar Khanna, the Sacramento man who worked two jobs to provide for his family before he was killed in an Oct. 10 hit-and-run collision.
Contributions can be sent to the Aman Kumar Khanna Memorial Fund at the Golden One Credit Union, Post Office Box 15249, Sacramento, 95851-0249.
Khanna, 58, who held down two security guard jobs, was the sole means of support for his wife, three children and his mother.
Khanna was killed by a teenager who drove under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision.
The youth pleaded guilty last week to gross vehicular manslaughter and other charges. He was sentenced to a year in the Sacramento County Boy's Ranch as a result of his straight-up plea to the charges in Juvenile Court.
He will be deported to Mexico upon his release.
From Sandy Louey:
Elk Grove police are looking for three men who robbed a GameStop over the weekend.
At 8:21 p.m. Saturday, three men went into the store at 9688 Bruceville Road. One man was armed with a shotgun and demanded money from the employee, according to a police report.
The robbers also tried to take property from customers, but failed, police said. They left on foot with money and video gaming equipment, police said.
All three robbers were in their 20s. The robber with the shotgun was a light-skinned African-American man who wore a black-hooded sweatshirt pulled tight across his face, according to Officer Christopher Trim, spokesman for the police department.
The second robber was a Latino man who wore all dark clothing. The third suspect was an Asian man who wore a gray-hooded sweatshirt, Trim said. (An earlier version of this story did not have suspect descriptions. Police later provided them.)
Anyone with information is asked to call police at (916) 714-5115
From Sandy Louey:
A 15-year-old Sacramento boy was beaten in the head with a hammer in Woodland Monday morning, police said.
Woodland police responded at 11:05 a.m. to the report of the attack in the 100 block of Buckeye Street.
The boy and a friend were visiting from Sacramento when they encountered a man in the area of West Beamer and California streets.
The man and the boy exchanged words in Spanish. The boy and his friend were several blocks away when they heard footsteps behind them, according to a press release from the police.
The friend saw the man hit the boy several times in the head with a hammer. The boy was taken to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento for head trauma and a possible broken wrist, police said.
Police said the suspect is described as a Latino man in his 20s who was wearing a puffy black jacket. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (530) 661-7800.
Sacramento area police are urging the sober to help them catch the smashed.
Local and state officials are promoting increased use of cell phones to report suspicious drivers by calling 911.
Here are tips to spotting a possible drunken driver:
-Swerving in and out of the lane.
- Weaving noticeably within a lane.
- Traveling at speeds much slower than the flow of traffic.
- Braking erratically or stopping in the lane.
- Sudden stops for signal lights and slow start once they change.
- Remaining at the signal lights once they turn green asleep at the wheel.
- Making wide turns and/or cutting the corner, striking the curb.
- Headlights off at night or on high beams.
- Driving with the turn signals on.
- Straddling the center line of the road or lane lines.
- The driver stares straight ahead, face close to the windshield and appears sleepy.
-Aggressive driving - speeding, tailgating, multiple lane changes, unsafe passing.
Officials are riding a wave of good news - alcohol related crash fatalities dropped by 8.3 percent in 2007 - the first such decline since 1998.
"Through an aggressive combination of various anti-DUI operations, including sobriety checkpoints, together with the public calling 911 when they see a drunk driver, we're getting these dangerous drivers off the road," said Christopher J. Murphy, director of the state Office of Traffic Safety.
His agency distributes federal grant money for increased DUI enforcement such as the saturation patrols planned for New Year's Eve by the Roseville Police Department and many other police agencies throughout the region.
Drivers using their cell phones to report other drivers is now a viable DUI enforcement weapon because most local police department dispatch centers now receive those cell phone 911 calls. Not too long ago any person calling 911 from a cell phone would automatically get the often beleaguered California Highway Patrol switchboard.
Rocklin police give some of the credit for a 14 percent increase in DUI arrests to alert local residents. By the third week in December, Rocklin police had scored 264 arrests of drivers who were suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or some other drug. They also noted a 23 percent increase in cell phone calls to their dispatch center from drivers reported other drivers.
"I don't believe that there are 14 percent more DUI drivers in the area as compared to last year," said Lt. Lon Milka, Rocklin police spokesman. "I believe that more of the DUI drivers out there are being arrested. If you are going to drink and drive, chances are good that either a police officer will spot you or a citizen will."
From Sandy Louey:
Rocklin police arrested a 27-year-old Orangevale man suspected of illegally carrying Oxycontin and Vicodin pills.
At 4:25 p.m. Saturday, an officer stopped Jesse Rayburn in the old town area of Rocklin for a traffic infraction. The officer was conducting a probation search when Rayburn took off running, according to a press release.
Officers pursued him throughout the homes and the backyards in the area until he was found in the backyard of a home on Pacific and Cedar streets. Police said Rayburn was found with Oxycontin and Vicodin pills.
He was arrested on suspicion of two counts of possession of a controlled substance, violating probation and resisting arrest, police said.
From Sandy Louey:
Citrus Heights police have arrested two men for allegedly shooting into a 7-Eleven store Saturday.
At 4:51 a.m., an officer heard gunshots from the area of the store at 6170 Auburn Blvd. and saw a gray pickup truck leaving, according to a police press release.
The store clerk called dispatch and reported bullets had been fired into the store. The officer followed the truck and called for help. Police and the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department stopped Justin Swett and Dennis Edens, both 20, in Carmichael, authorities said.
Further investigation found the two had tried to steal beer from the store at 4:44 a.m., but the clerk had stopped them. There were no injuries from the shooting, but the store had a broken window and damages to its fixtures, police said.
Swett, of Rio Linda, and Edens, of Sacramento, were both arrested on suspicion of discharge of firearms at an inhabited building, carrying a loaded firearm, battery against a person, and two counts of conspiracy, according to online jail records.
Swett was also arrested on suspicion of discharge of a firearm from a motor vehicle, assault with a deadly weapon or firearm, and carrying a loaded firearm in public and not listed with the Department of Justice.
Edens was also arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, driving while under the influence, driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or more and permitting another person to discharge a firearm from a vehicle.
Both are being held in the Sacramento County Main Jail Sunday, Edens on $145,000 bail, while Swett on $155,000 bail. The pair are scheduled to be in court Tuesday.
From Sandy Louey:
Woodland police are looking for six people who allegedly assaulted a 20-year-old man early Sunday.
Police responded at 1:51 a.m. to the Flamingo Apartments at 613 Second Street about an injured person lying in the parking lot, according to a press release.
Oscar Martinez Gonzalez, of Woodland, was unconscious, but breathing. He sustained a head injury and was taken to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where he was in stable condition Sunday, police said.
Police said five men and a woman were seen leaving the area in a dark-colored SUV. The motive for the attack hasn't been determined yet.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at (530) 666-2411 or (530) 661-7800.
From Sandy Louey:
Sacramento police said Sunday that a 57-year-old man missing since Tuesday has been found safe.
Cheng Thao was last seen leaving a home in the 2600 block of Fairfield Street on foot around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. He wasn't dressed for the weather and didn't have his medication with him, according to a press release.
Thao was found Saturday night by a person who spotted him in front of the Jack In The Box at 8750 La Riviera Dr. The person recognized him as a missing person from the media coverage, said Sgt. Norm Leong.
Family members said Thao, who only speaks Hmong, is easily confused and often forgets simple thing such as his home address and name. He has walked off in the past and been located in places such as Roseville and Yuba City, police said.
From David Richie:
Police officers throughout the region are hammering suspected drunken drivers as the holidays zoom toward a New Year's Eve crescendo but one special-interest group is urging police to drop a favorite DUI enforcement tactic - the checkpoint.
Drunken driving checkpoints are a failure and they target the wrong drivers, according to a recent news release from the Washington D.C. based American Beverage Institute.
ABI, "an association of restaurants committed to the responsible serving of adult beverages," is especially critical of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which provides grant funding for local drunken driving enforcement. The group also criticizes Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a big supporter of DUI checkpoints.
"By promoting sobriety checkpoints, MADD and NHTSA are ignoring the root cause of today's drunk driving problem - hard-core alcohol abusers," said Sarah Longwell, ABI managing director.
Checkpoints are highly visible and generally publicized in advance so chronic drinkers just avoid them and keep driving, Longwell said.
"That leaves adults who enjoyed a beer while watching a bowl game or a glass of wine with Christmas dinner to be harassed at checkpoints," Longwell said.
However, the group is a strong supporter of another weapon in the DUI enforcement arsenal - roving police patrols or "saturation" efforts. Officers on saturation patrol also ticket speeders, red-light runners and similar traffic offenders.
There are many grants for DUI enforcement programs funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and administered in California by the state's Office of Traffic Safety.
OTS spokesman Chris Cochran said his agency is aware of the ABI argument against drunken driving checkpoints and disagrees. Most police departments are correctly using a combination of checkpoints, saturation patrols and other tactics but the checkpoints still have their place, he said.
"The main reason for checkpoints is the public awareness factor," Cochran said.
Checkpoints are highly visible reminders that California continues to have a real problem with drunken driving. They also underscore the consequences of that activity.
The Office of Traffic Safety also disagrees with the American Beverage Institute's contention that most regular drivers now "get it" and refrain from drinking and driving. Chronic drunks are a concern but the "majority of alcohol-related crashes are caused by non-hardcore drinkers," Cochran said.
"Checkpoints and saturation patrols are different animals and they are meant to do two different things," Cochran said.
Editor's note: Notebook is an occasional series on slices of life found by The Bee's police reporters.
From Stan Oklobdzija
"I tell everyone that comes to work here to treat everyone like you'd treat your mother," said Capt. Scott McKenney, who leads a four-man team at Metro Fire Station 53.
Comprised of a two-person medic team and a three-person engine team, McKenney's station house covers the busiest part of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, he said. Based in South Sacramento, the firefighters there are no strangers to the violence and disarray that plague most of that neighborhood.
Chad Fortin, a paramedic on McKenney's team, said the poverty of the area means that he and his fellow paramedics are primary care physicians for a lot of the people living in South Sacramento.
"People don't go to the doctor here," Fortin said. "They call 911, that's their health care system."
On Christmas Eve at about 8:30 p.m., the fire crew responded to a medical aid call at a nursing home on Sky Parkway. A 72-year-old woman was on the verge of diabetic shock.
Wearing matching Santa hats, (Fortin's contribution that evening), the team wheeled a stretcher through the hallway. The stale air stank of urine and confused residents stood in the doorways of their rooms staring at the firemen as they made their way in.
A single bedside lamp provided all the light in the woman's room. The television was on and the woman sat on the edge of the bed, a stuffed bear sitting next to her. An in-house nurse lorded over her as the firemen took her vitals. Her blood sugar was three times the normal level, McKenney told her.
She'd have to go to the hospital, the firemen explained. She needed insulin and there wasn't any on their truck.
The woman was nervous. She didn't want to go if going meant leaving her bear behind.
"He's my favorite thing in the whole world," she said.
So both the woman and the bear were strapped to the gurney, and both made their way to Methodist Hospital to spend Christmas Eve in a hospital bed.
"Oh, the things I suffer," the woman cried as the firemen wheeled her to the ambulance.
From Kim Minugh:
Sacramento police are searching for a certain Rudolph this holiday season - but not one of the red-nosed variety.
Twenty-year-old Isaac Rudolph (left photo) is wanted in connection with a Dec. 3 robbery in the Northgate area, said police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong. Rudolph and an associate lured two victims to their van at the intersection of Northgate Boulevard and San Juan Road with offers of a music CD for purchase. But the pair instead forced the victims into the van at gunpoint, Leong said.
Rudolph and his associate robbed the victims and then dropped them off at another location, Leong said. Police have issued a warrant for Rudolph's arrest on a robbery charge.
He is described as 5-foot-10-inches tall and 150 pounds.
Leong said the other suspect is in custody, but did not have the suspect's name.
Anyone with information is asked to call the police department's non-emergency line at (916) 264-5471. Reindeer sightings need not be reported.
From David Richie:
In an effort to bring Chaos (left photo) home for Christmas, a $3,000 reward is being offered for the safe return of the Shih Tzu puppy that was stolen in Roseville on Dec. 14.
The reward was announced today by Rosemary Frieborn, president of the Friends of the Placer County Animal Shelter.
Chaos was inside a van that was stolen from the parking lot outside Denny's, 122 Sunrise Ave. between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Dec. 14 (an earlier version of this story has the wrong date). The silver 1997 Dodge Caravan was found a few days later on O Street in Rio Linda. The van had been ransacked and the puppy was gone.
The owners of Chaos have been searching animal shelters throughout the area.
Anyone with information about the theft of the van or the whereabouts of Chaos can call the Roseville Police Department at (916) 774-5000.
From Niesha Lofing:
The California Highway Patrol's efforts to nab drunken drivers in Sacramento last weekend yielded 116 arrests.
The CHP conducted two Rapid Apprehension of Impaired Drivers operations Friday and Saturday in south and North Sacramento, a CHP news release states.
Friday's efforts in south Sacramento resulted in 61 arrests for drunken or drug-impaired driving, while Saturday's operation in North Sacramento yielded 55 drunken or drug-related arrests, the CHP reports.
The RAID program uses grant-funded overtime from the state Office of Traffic Safety to allow the CHP to increase the number of officers on patrol and deploy them at times and locations where high incidents of DUI-related crashes have occurred, the release states.
From Niesha Lofing:
Sacramento police will be on the lookout for drunken drivers Friday.
Officers will conduct a sobriety and drivers license checkpoint in the north area of the city, a police news release states.
Officers will be checking for alcohol and drug-impaired drivers and making sure all drivers have a valid drivers license.
The location and time of the checkpoint will be disclosed about two hours before it is implemented.
The checkpoint is funded by a grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Citrus Heights Police Department robbery detectives are seeking information leading to the identity of subject responsible for the robbery of the Washington Mutual Bank on Sunrise Boulevard, Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.
According to authorities, on Oct. 23 the suspect (left photo) entered the bank, approached a teller and demanded money. After receiving an undisclosed amount of money, the suspect fled the bank. He is suspected of a series of other bank robberies in the Sacramento region, officials said.
The suspect is described as in his mid-20s to mid-30s with a goatee.
Anyone with information about the suspect is urged to contact Crime Alert at (800) AA-CRIME or (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Sacramento Police Capt. Daniel Hahn shares updated crime statistics with Natomas residents via Robslist, a listserv about crime in that area:
I have attached the crime stats for November. They compare November 2008 to November 2007 and also the previous months. Keep in mind these are preliminary stats and could change slightly. They should not change significantly ... Some look fairly good, but we still have significant room for improvement ...
Police District 1A (North Natomas)
• 12 residential burglaries (33% reduction) was the lowest all year.
• Business burglaries went up for the first time since June (20%)
• Vehicle burglaries were the lowest all year and reduced by 52%.
• Stolen vehicles were the lowest all year (9) and reduced by 70%
Police District 1B (South Natomas)
• 12 residential burglaries (40% reduction) were the lowest all year.
• Vehicle burglaries were the lowest all year (15) and reduced by 28%
• Stolen vehicles have gone down every month this year except January and are almost half what they were last year.
Police District 1C (Gardenland/ Northgate)
• Residential burglaries went up for last 2 months in a row and went up 166% in Nov. (3 to 8)
• Business burglaries went down for the last 4 months and 16% (6 to 5) in November.
• Stolen cars have gone down every month this year and has reduced by more then half from last year.
• Robberies (unspecified) went up for the first time since January.
From Niesha Lofing:
Two teenagers were arrested Tuesday for allegedly trying to break into a Woodland home.
Woodland police were called at 2:19 p.m. Tuesday to a home in the 100 block of Clover Street on a report of suspicious people entering the backyard, a Woodland Police news release states.
Once there, officers saw two juveniles running away and starting to jump fences in the area. Officers set up a perimeter and caught the two subjects, the release states.
The juveniles, both Woodland residents, were arrested on suspicion of burglary and were taken to the Yolo County Juvenile Detention Center.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call police at (530) 661-7800.
From Niesha Lofing:
Two women were arrested Tuesday after allegedly using a stolen check to pay for a burglar alarm permit in Sacramento County.
The case began in October, when a woman visiting from Alaska had her purse stolen in Rocklin, Rocklin police Lt. Lon Milka said in a news release.
A checkbook and credit cards were in the purse and were used to make more than $2,600 in purchases throughout the Sacramento region, including gift cards and electronics, he said.
Rocklin police investigated the theft and cracked the case when one of the stolen checks was used to purchase a burglar alarm permit in Sacramento County.
Detectives served a search warrant Tuesday morning in the 6500 block of Meader Avenue and arrested two women.
Earlene Turks, 41, of Sacramento, was arrested on suspicion of identity theft, burglary, passing fraudulent checks and conspiracy. She is being held on $25,000 bail in Placer County Jail in Auburn, according to online jail information.
Delia Soto, 42, of Sacramento, was arrested on suspicion of identity theft, passing fraudulent checks and conspiracy. She is being held on $10,000 bail in Placer County Jail in Auburn.
From Stan Oklobdzija:
The Auburn Police Department is looking for a man who robbed the Bank of America on High Street this morning, police said.
The man entered the bank at 900 High St. about noon and demanded money from a teller, according to a press release. He then left the bank on foot in an unknown direction, police said.
The suspect is described as a white male between 5-feet-6-inches and 5-feet-8-inches tall and weighing between 220 and 250 pounds with sandy blonde hair in his late 20s or early 30s.
The man was last seen wearing a red t-shirt over a black hooded sweatshirt with blue jeans and a tan "Fox Racing" baseball cap, police said.
He may be responsible for several other robberies in the area, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Auburn Police Department at 530-823-4237, extension 207.
From David Richie:
A weekly summary released today by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department indicates that crime, violence and general weirdness are not taking a holiday.
A few of the incidents dealt with last week by sheriff's deputies in the unincorporated northeast include:
- A couple in their 80s, said they were assaulted by a purse snatcher in a parking lot in the 6500 block of Coyle Avenue, near Mercy San Juan Medical Center, Carmichael. The woman was pushed to the ground but did not suffer serious injuries during the incident about 11:30 p.m. Dec. 17.
- Two Orangevale women reported a scary encounter with an intruder at their home in the 8500 block of Cumulus Way north of Greenback Lane. The incident occurred about 9:15 p.m. Dec. 18 when a stranger in his late 20s knocked on the front door. When the women did not answer the door, the man went around back and started trying to open two sliding doors. When that was unsuccessful, he finally gained entry by climbing in through a bedroom window.
He then started walking through the house, yelling, until he encountered one of the women in a hallway. At that point, he apologized, told the woman he was in the wrong house and departed without taking any property.
Descriptions of the man are sketchy: A white male in his late 20s, about 5-feet-10-inches tall, weighing about 150 pounds. No arrest is noted in the summary.
- A couple in their 80s, said they were assaulted by a purse snatcher in a parking lot in the 6500 block of Coyle Avenue, near Mercy San Juan Medical Center, Carmichael. The woman was pushed to the ground but did not suffer serious injuries during the incident about 11:30 p.m. Dec. 17.
- A parolee, identified by deputies as Eric Patrick Carlson, 27, remains in Sacramento County Main Jail after his arrest Dec. 18 for allegedly attacking two men with a wood-splitting maul. The incident occurred at a home in the 8000 block of Sacramento Street, east of Sunrise Boulevard in Fair Oaks. Carlson is facing charges of suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and parole violation.
- An Orangevale man got a face full of pepper spray about 3:20 a.m. Saturday when he confronted two men who had allegedly set off his car alarm in the 6600 block of Carrwood Street, north of Central Avenue. Nothing was taken from the car and the two men fled after the assault.
- Two car burglary suspects were taken into custody early Saturday morning in Fair Oaks when deputies responded to a burglary in progress call in the 5400 block of Greenbrier Way, north of Madison Avenue, near Bella Vista High School.
Gustavo Fuentes, 21, was carrying a backpack with a large quantity of suspected stolen property, including some that a nearby resident said had been taken out of his vehicle, deputies reported. Deputies also said they found drug paraphernalia and suspected burglary tools.
Fuentes and his companion, Fernando Verdusco, 19, remain in jail, records show. Verdusco is being held on warrants and misdemeanor drug charges. Fuentes faces felony charges of suspicion of burglary and possessing stolen property.
- Two Carmichael residents said they were robbed at gunpoint while walking in their neighborhood near the corner of Kenneth Avenue and Arboreta Court about 6:30 p.m. Saturday. They were accosted by two men and robbed of a wallet, purse, checkbook and lottery tickets. Suspect descriptions were vague - two African American men in their early to mid-20s both about 5-feet-10-inches tall, weighing 180-200 pounds.
- Deputies recovered a loaded revolver and a butterfly knife as well as what they described as "lock picks" about 1 p.m. Monday when they said they arrested a man and a woman suspected of burglarizing lockers at the 24-Hour Fitness club, 2280 Sunrise Boulevard, Rancho Cordova. The suspects were identified as Wayland Buxman, 25, and Jennifer Hernandez, 23.
From Kim Minugh:
California Highway Patrolman Joseph Paul Sanders was laid to rest Monday, one day after the 29-year-old Galt High graduate would have successfully completed his first year in his dream job.
He had served just 359 days as a CHP officer - his long-time goal - before he was struck and killed a week prior while diverting traffic on a wet Los Angeles County highway.
Hundreds of family, friends and uniformed officers honored the Sacramento-born Sanders, who worked from the CHP's Santa Fe Springs office in southern California.
Law enforcement officers from across the state - including a large contingent from the south state - and even from the Texas Highway Patrol filled the First Baptist Church in Elk Grove to memorialize the young officer.
CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow described Sanders as a man of "tremendous courage and strength, yet a man of compassion and warmth."
"He was indeed an honorable man, a true American hero," Farrows said.
Sanders grew up the oldest of three children. Before graduating in 1997, he lettered in four varsity sports at Galt High. He died an avid fan of the Oakland A's and Raiders teams, according to friends.
Sanders enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served seven months in Fallujah, Iraq, before being honorably discharged in July 2006.
When he entered the CHP Academy a year later, family and friends say he fulfilled a lifelong dream. Capt. Dan Minor, who oversees the Santa Fe Springs office, said that within minutes of telling Sanders' widow, Tondria, that her husband had been killed, she said she took comfort knowing he died doing what he loved to do.
Sanders is survived by Tondria, who is pregnant; the couple's four young children; his parents and his two sisters.
After mourners cleared the First Baptist Church, an unknown man sat comforting one of Sanders' sons in the church's front pew. The boy wore a CHP uniform shirt and a yellow mourning ribbon.
To see a photo gallery of Bee photos taken at the services, click here.
From Niesha Lofing:
A Sacramento teen who acted as a lookout during a residential burglary faces up to three years in prison for the crime.
A Yolo County jury on Thursday convicted Raymond Gray, 18, of Sacramento, of burglarizing a Davis home earlier this year, a news release from the office of Yolo County District Attorney Jeff W. Reisig states.
At 10:30 a.m. March 4, Gray, who was with two other juveniles, acted as a lookout while the others entered the home on Emerald Gray Drive and stole property, prosecutors said.
A concerned neighbor, who knew the residents were gone for the day, noticed the three men peering into the windows of the home and called Davis police.
An officer responded within minutes. Gray spotted the officer and warned the two other men, who were in the house, and then helped carry the stolen property away from the home.
The three men jumped the back fence, but were caught minutes later, still holding the stolen property, prosecutors said.
Reisig praised the neighbor's efforts and the quick response of the police.
"Without the courage of the neighbor and the hard work and dedication of the Davis Police Department ... these criminals might still be out burglarizing homes in Yolo County," Reisig said in a written statement.
Information about what happened to the other two alleged burglars is not available because they are juveniles, said Jonathan Raven, assistant chief deputy district attorney.
From Niesha Lofing:
Six people were arrested for drunken driving and one person died in a DUI-related fatal crash in Placer County this weekend.
Several law enforcement agencies in the county conducted a sobriety checkpoint Saturday and arrested six people for drunken driving, Auburn police Officer Scott Alford stated in a news release.
There was one drunken driving related fatality in Roseville.
Brandon Mitchell Keith, 20, died early Saturday at Sutter Roseville Medical Center after the car he was riding in crashed into a tree. The 19-year-old driver, Brandon M. Moreno, of Roseville, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter.
Another passenger suffered minor injuries in the crash and a third passenger was not injured.
The checkpoint Saturday was part of the statewide Winter Mobilization maximum DUI enforcement effort.
The "AVOID the 7" taskforce is part of a team of 50 law enforcement agencies participating in the campaign. From Dec. 12 through Sunday, officers have arrested 524 people for DUI-related violations in the Sacramento valley region, an AVOID news release states.
More sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols are scheduled throughout the holiday season.
From Niesha Lofing:
An alert Rocklin resident helped nab four juveniles who allegedly vandalized a city park.
The resident allegedly saw a group of juveniles in a Jeep at 7:15 a.m. Saturday driving onto the grass area at Pleasant Valley Creek Park, damaging the newly laid sod, Rocklin police Lt. Lon Milka said in a news release.
The resident got the license plate of the car and called police dispatchers. Officers investigated the incident and tracked the vehicle to a Roseville home, where the driver and passengers were identified.
Damage to the park is estimated at $1,000.
None of the juveniles live in Rocklin and it is unclear as to why they were at the park on Park Drive and Sterling Way.
The case has been forwarded to the county's juvenile probation department.
Sacramento Police Real Estate Fraud and Financial Crimes detectives are seeking Liza Marie Reyes (left photo) on a felony $5,000 bail arrest warrant for suspicion of grand theft of money by fraud and deception, Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.
According to authorities, Reyes fraudulently obtained thousands of dollars in upfront loan fees, provided false documents and disappeared with the money.
Reyes is described as 33 years old, 5-foot-5, weighing 130 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information about Reyes is urged to contact Crime Alert at (800) AA-CRIME or (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
From David Richie:
El Dorado County Sheriff's detectives are investigating a home-invasion robbery that occurred Dec. 14 in the 700 block of Vera Court, El Dorado Hills.
Two residents woke up about 2:45 a.m. to find two masked men pointing guns at them. Their hands were tied and they were told to remain in bed while one of the men ransacked the home for about 30 minutes, investigators said.
The intruders escaped with the couple's 1993 blue Mitsubishi Spyder. They also took electronics, jewelry and an unspecified amount of marijuana, investigators said.
The Mitsubishi was found later that night on Oak Creek Court in El Dorado Hills where it had been left all day with the motor running.
No descriptions of the suspects were available.
From Stan Oklobdzija:
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department has identified the victim of a fatal shooting Saturday night in Rancho Cordova as Timothy Brodie, according to a sheriff's press release.
Brodie, 30, was found lying on the ground in a parking lot of an apartment complex on the 3000 block of Laurelhurst Drive at about 10:40 p.m., sheriff's officials said.
Brodie suffered multiple gunshot wounds, according to sheriff's officials, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115.
From Andy Furillo:
A 17-year-old boy has admitted to gross vehicular manslaughter charges in Sacramento Juvenile Court in the hit-and-run death of a 58-year-old man, prosecutors said today.
The Oct. 10 collision killed Aman Khanna, who was on his way to work in one of two jobs he held.
The youth, whose name is being withheld because of his age, was under the influence of alcohol and was driving 80 miles per hour when he ran and red light and struck Khanna at the intersection of Cottage and Fulton, according to the Sacramento district attorney's office.
Khanna supported his mother, wife and three daughters.
Deputy District Attorney Joy Smiley said in a press release that his death left his family in "severe emotional and financial distress." Smiley said the family's "finances have been depleted" and that his passing left them "with no way to support themselves."
The teenaged defendant will be committed to the Sacramento County Boys Ranch for one year and then will be deported to Mexico upon his release, prosecutors said.
From David Richie:
Roseville police are trying to track down Chaos, a 4-month-old Shih Tzu puppy lost Dec. 14 when its owner's van was stolen.
The van, with Chaos (left photo) inside, was stolen from the Denny's parking lot, 122 Sunrise Ave., between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The van was found on O Street in Rio Linda on Dec. 16. The inside had been ransacked and Chaos was gone.
Anyone who knows about the puppy is asked to call the Roseville Police Department at (916) 774-5070 or Roseville Crime Stoppers at (916) 783-7867. They can remain anonymous and may be eligible for cash rewards.
From David Richie:
A tense Sacramento police search for 92-year-old Nao "Nong" Lee ended happily late Sunday night when the woman was found safe and sound, police said Monday.
Lee had been picked up by relatives who did not realize that other family members had reported her missing, said Norm Leong, Sacramento Police Department spokesman.
Police and family members started searching for Lee when she went to a local market about 3 p.m. Sunday and did not return. Concern mounted as rain continued in the Del Paso Heights neighborhood around South Avenue because Lee was lightly clad and she does not speak English.
A missing person alert was sent to local news media about 9:30 p.m.
From Sandy Louey:
Sacramento police are searching for a home-invasion robber that stole Christmas presents this morning.
Police have recovered the presents.
The robber entered the home in the 6200 block of South Land Park Drive through a rear slide door, police say. Armed with a knife, he forced a 19-year-old man to sit while he took the presents, said Sgt. Norm Leong, Sacramento Police Department spokesman.
Police responded to a call about the robbery at 10:02 a.m.
The robber took off, with the victim chasing him with a golf club. Police found the stolen presents in a creek near a home in the 5900 block of Lake Crest Way, Leong said.
The suspect is described as African American, 5-feet, 7-inches tall and weighing 145 pounds. He had a black backpack, blue bandanna, blue jeans and shoulder length dreadlocks, police said.
From Dale Kasler:
A Sacramento man has pleaded guilty in connection with a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme covering multiple properties in the area.
Derek Davis, 62, also known as Terry McCullough, pleaded guilty to fraud charges in U.S. District Court, the U.S. attorney's office said.
Davis and Dino Rosetti were indicted in October on charges of defrauding mortgage lenders by arranging for various individuals to buy properties in the region with false loan applications. More than $11 million worth of homes were purchased in 2005 and 2006, according to the indictment.
The loan applications lied about the buyers' incomes and jobs, the indictment said.
Davis is to be sentenced Feb. 27. Charges are still pending against Rosetti.
From Sandy Louey:
Students and staff are teaming with law enforcement and security officers to keep vandals at bay at a school hit hard during last year's holiday break.
The effort to protect Ethel I. Baker Elementary School features staff and students canvassing the school's neighborhood with deputies from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and district security officers.
The door-to-door neighborhood walk begins at 10 a.m. Friday at the school, 5717 Laurine Way, as part of the Sacramento Unified School District's vandalism prevention campaign.
Every summer and winter recess, district security officers team up with schools to ask nearby residents to watch for and report suspicious behavior at school sites.
During the 2007-2008 holiday break, vandals caused $6,933 in damages, down from $7,018 the previous year, according to the district.
To report suspicious behavior on a school campus, Sacramento residents can call the Sacramento Police Department at (916) 264-5471. People living outside the city can call the sheriff's department at (916) 874-5115.
District security can also be called around the clock every day at (916) 643-7444. District Police Sgt. Vince Matranga can also be contacted at (916) 752-3620.
The Sacramento Police Department is seeking Jullian Vicenete Placencia (left photo) on a felony $30,000 bail arrest warrant for suspicion of burglary, grand theft and receiving stolen property, Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.
According to authorities, Placencia was allowed to temporarily sleep in the victim's apartment and was suspected of stealing some of the victim's video games. The victim ejected Placencia from the apartment and changed the door locks. Three days later, Placencia allegedly forced his way into the the apartment and took a large amount of electronics and video game equipment.
That same day, Placencia was reportedly identified as selling some of the equipment to a video game shop.
A transient, he is described 20 years old, 5-foot-7, weighting 141 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information about Placencia is urged to contact Crime Alert at (800) AA-CRIME or (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
From Sandy Louey:
The California Highway Patrol made 116 alcohol- and drug-related arrests as part of operations conducted in the Sacramento region over the weekend.
Two Rapid Apprehension of Impaired Drivers strike force operations were conducted in the city's south and north areas. Friday's operation in south Sacramento produced 61 arrests; Saturday's deployment in North Sacramento yielded 55 arrests, a CHP news release states.
The RAID program uses grant-funded overtime from the Office of Traffic Safety to help boost the number of officers on patrol and to deploy them at times and locations where there have been extensive DUI-related traffic accidents.
From David Richie:
Sacramento police are looking for an "easily confused" 92-year-old woman (left photo) who left her home to go to the store about 3 p.m. Sunday and never returned.
Nao "Nong" Lee does not speak English. She is Laotian, about 4 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 60-70 pounds. She was last seen wearing a black shirt and light blue pants. Lee was last seen in the neighborhood near her home in the 1200 block of South Avenue, Del Paso Heights, near Mama Marks Park.
Sgt. Norm Leong, spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department, said officers and family members had been looking for the woman for hours before the police department issued its missing person alert about 9:30 p.m. Sunday. She was not dressed for the rainy weather, which also is hampering the search.
"We can't send our helicopter up tonight," Leong said.
Anyone with information about Lee is asked to call the Sacramento Police Department at (916) 264-5471.
From David Richie:
Rocklin police are singing the praises of Diva, their dope-sniffing dog, after the K-9's latest exploit at a local campus where Diva and her human partner rolled in to check cars parked in the student parking lot last week.
Diva's nose led officers to car at a local school, which police did not identify, about 10:30 a.m. Friday. A search turned up about 13 grams of suspected marijuana along with digital scales and an open container of alcohol, police said.
Officers contacted the owner of the car and the Rocklin Unified School District will take "appropriate actions" when the investigation is complete, Lt. Lon Milka, police department spokesman, said in a press release.
The owner of the car is not being identified because he or she is a minor.
Random searches at local schools are not new. Police and school district officials have made several similar arrests during the past three years.
Diva is a black Labrador and a three-year police department veteran. During the past year she has been involved in about 100 drug busts throughout the city and helped officers find pot, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin, police said.
From David Richie
A Sacramento County Sheriff's Department deputy is expected to recover from injuries suffered Friday morning when a vehicle struck his department motorcycle near the junction of Highway 99 and Highway 113 in Sutter County.
Deputy Corey Simpson, 39, was transported by helicopter to Sutter Roseville Medical Center with leg and shoulder injuries.
No internal injuries have been detected and Simpson will likely remain hospitalized until mid-week, Sheriff's Department officials said in a press release.
Simpson was in uniform when the accident occurred. Sheriff's officials did not say why Simpson was in Sutter County.
The deputy has been with the Sheriff's Department for seven years and he is assigned to the Rancho Cordova Police Department. The Sheriff's Department provides police service to Rancho Cordova under a contract.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.
From Sandy Louey
Woodland police are investigating the armed robbery of a Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft store.
The robbery took place at 8:48 p.m. Friday at 375 W. Main St. A man with a handgun came in and demanded money at the register. Money was taken and he fled, according to a police press release.
The suspect was described as a light-skinned Latino man about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 185 pounds. He had flat-top black hair and brown eyes. He wore a black-gray plaid sweater and blue jeans, police said.
No one was injured.
Anyone with information is asked to call (530) 661-7800.
From Sandy Louey
Woodland police are seeking suspects in a bank robbery that occurred about 5:44 p.m. Friday at the Bank of America, 50 West Main St.
Two men wearing dark clothing and hoods covering their faces entered the bank with pistols, according to a police press release.
Police said the robbers held about 15 employees and customers while they took an undisclosed amount of money from the bank.
They left in a white, four-door station wagon with a black luggage rack. The car was driven by an African American woman with dark hair who wore a black hat, police said.
No one was injured.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at (530) 661-7800.
From Sandy Louey
The Sacramento County Coroner's Office has identified a man who was fatally shot in Rancho Cordova as 30-year-old Timothy Brodie of Sacramento.
On Friday night, deputies with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Laurelhurst Drive after residents called 911 reporting the sound of gunfire.
Deputies found Brodie's body in the parking lot.
From Bill Lindelof and Chelsea Phua:
A 79-year-old man reported missing by his family has been found after becoming involved in a non-injury accident in downtown Sacramento.
Henry Gutierrez, who apparently became confused and lost Friday night, ran a red light at 26th and X streets and hit another vehicle at about 4:20 a.m. Saturday. He was then identified by officers.
Gutierrez had last been seen 5 p.m. Friday leaving 7329 Barr Way, south of Florin Road and just east of Interstate 5. He was there because he mistakenly thought he had dinner plans with his girlfriend. Gutierrez has a medical condition that causes him to become easily confused.
From Andy Furillo:
The mastermind of the two-month Interstate 80 takeover robbery spree that shook three local counties three years ago won't be doing much of that any more unless he lives into the next millennium.
Convicted on 43 felony counts, Carlos Moreno Johnson (left photo) was ordered today to serve 1,285 years to life in prison by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Troy Nunley.
"More than 40 victims in three counties suffered great physical and emotional damage in this case," Deputy District Attorney Amy Holliday said in a press release. "The extensive criminal history combined with the serious and violent nature of these offenses rightfully earned this career criminal multiple life sentences under the three-strikes law."
Johnson, 40, organized a robbery squad that hit movie theaters, banks, parking garages, motels and other retail outlets from Oct. 28, 2005, through Dec. 14, 2005, in Solano, Yolo and Sacramento Counties.
The spree came to an end when a California Highway Patrol officer, Darrell Whitebear, pulled Johnson over on a taillight violation and found guns, masks, gloves and stolen goods in the trunk of the defendant's car.
From Andy Furillo:
The pending murder investigation has complicated efforts by lawyers for a former Sacramento sheriff's deputy named as a "principal" in the shooting death of a state correctional officer to obtain documents in a related case.
Attorneys for the former deputy, Chu Vue (left photo), said Friday in Sacramento Superior Court that they will file a motion to ask a judge to unseal the sworn affidavit city police detectives used to search their client's house.
Detectives conducted the search on the same day as the Oct. 15 slaying of correctional officer Steve Lo in the garage of his Sacramento home. The search produced an illegal .223 caliber rifle that led prosecutors to file weapons charges against Vue, 43. Vue was fired Oct. 27.
Tom Johnson, one of Vue's lawyers in the gun case, said in court that Vue "has a right to litigate the probable cause for this search warrant ... We have asked for the affidavit, and we don't have it."
Judge Joseph Orr set a Jan. 30 hearing date on Vue's motion to unseal the affidavit, which Johnson said he needs to read before he can prepare for his client's preliminary hearing on the weapons case.
The judge also set a Jan. 8 hearing date on another defense motion to reduce Vue's bail. The defendant, who entered a not guilty plea on Friday, is currently free on a $500,000 bond.
Police have not officially identified Vue as a suspect in Lo's death. Court papers detectives filed to get the affidavit sealed, however, identified Vue as a "principal" in the investigation who was "was involved in the planning and/or execution" of the 39-year-old Lo.
Deputy District Attorney Robert Clancey has since said in open court that Lo had been having an affair with Vue's wife.
Clancey said outside court Friday that the city police detectives "are working very diligently" on the homicide investigation. Johnson said it was "presumably" that ongoing probe that has prompted the detectives to keep the affidavit under wraps.
Johnson has yet to file the motion to unseal the document. Clancey said he will fight the motion next month if detectives still think that making the affidavit public would hurt their investigation.
The deputy was fired Oct. 27 amid the homicide investigation into the Oct. 15 shooting death of correctional officer Steve Lo.
From Andy Furillo:
The third defendant in a recently-resolved murder trial pleaded guilty today to a felony gun charge and will be sentenced to time that he's already served in county jail, his lawyer said.
Kenneth Ray Anderson III (left photo) spent more than two years in jail as he awaited trial on murder charges in the March 26, 2006, shooting death of Hector Manuel Barrera, 25. A Sacramento Superior Court jury deadlocked on murder charges that had been filed against Anderson, 32.
In exchange for his guilty plea, Anderson will be sentenced to a year in county jail and two years probation, said his lawyer, Chris Haydn-Meyer.
Another defendant in the case, Edwin Arthur Stevenson, 19, was found guilty of murder and has been sentenced to 60-years-to-life in prison. A third defendant, Panfilo Torres, 23, was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon for firing a non-fatal shot that injured Barrera. Torres received a 14-year term.
From Niesha Lofing:
Drunken driving arrests are increasing in Rocklin.
Rocklin police have arrested 264 people for drunken driving since the start of the year, a 14 percent increase over the same period of time in 2007, police Lt. Lon Milka said in a news release.
The increase in arrests is due to officers being diligent about spotting drunken drivers, officers having a heightened skill at recognizing symptoms of a driver's alcohol or drug intoxication and other drivers calling 911 to report possible violators.
Rocklin police's communications center has enhanced 911 capabilities and receives cell phone calls made within the city limits, making for rapid dispatching and officer response, Milka said.
Reports from cell phones of suspected drunken drivers has risen 23 percent so far this year, as compared to the same period last year, he said.
In other areas of the region, 911 calls are handled by the CHP and then forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
Milka said he doesn't think there are more drunken drivers in the city this year than last year, just a better system for catching them.
"We're catching more of them," Milka said.
He said officers are devoting a lot of in-house training time to learning signs of drunken drivers.
"We're pretty ecstatic about it because a lot of our officers are concentrating more on DUIs, in addition to their other patrol duties," he said.
From Niesha Lofing:
Sacramento County is among three counties slated to receive money from a settlement with the makers of cold medicine Mucinex.
An investigation revealed that Mucinex's packaging violated state law concerning "slack fill," a term used to describe fake walls, fake bottoms or excessive amounts of non-functional space, states a news release by Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully's office.
Slack fill space is illegal because it is inherently deceptive, leading the buyer to think there is a larger amount of product inside, the release states.
Reckitt Benckiser, the makers of Mucinex, acquired the cold medicine from Adams Respiratory Therapeutics Inc. in January during the ongoing investigation. The company cooperated with prosecutors and agreed to change its packaging to comply with the law.
The company settled with the three counties without admitting wrongdoing and agreed to pay $228,461.17 in civil penalties and $77,538.83 to reimburse the cost of the investigation, the release states.
Sacramento County will receive $100,000 of the settlement.
The county Department of Weights and Measures, along with similar departments in the other two counties, routinely monitors local businesses and investigates products to ensure they comply with state law.
From Niesha Lofing:
A Sacramento woman pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to stealing more than $120,000 in U.S. Social Security Administration funds.
Brenda Meche Alexander, 51, admitted before U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. that she claimed to be unemployed in order to receive social security benefits from April 1997 to April 2006, according to a news release by the office of U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott.
Alexander will repay all the money, prosecutors said.
Alexander is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30. She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release, along with a fine of up to $250,000.
From Niesha Lofing:
Redding police arrested a 40-year-old man in connection with a series of burglaries Thursday, including one at an adult store.
Officers responded at 2:37 a.m. to the Secrets Adult Superstore at 2131 Hilltop Drive on a report of an audible alarm initializing. Officers found that the front door of the business had been shattered and merchandise had been taken, a police news release states.
Police checked the area but did not find any suspects.
About three hours later, officers responded to another business at 2120 Churn Creek Road regarding an audible alarm having been initialized. Officers found a man near the rear of the business and he had a large amount of property allegedly taken from the adult store, the release states.
Billy Gene Yell Jr., of Redding, was arrested on suspicion of burglary and possession of stolen property. During the investigation, Yell admitted to burglarizing the store, officials said.
He was booked into Shasta County Jail and later released on a notice to appear in court.
Shortly after he was released, officers contacted Yell regarding the theft of adult magazines from Gold Street Liquors at 1459 Gold St. Officers determined Yell was allegedly responsible for the theft and arrested him on suspicion of commercial burglary.
He is being held on $35,000 bail in Shasta County Jail.
The Sacramento Police Department is seeking Loebirda Nelson (left photo) on a felony $20,000 bail arrest warrant for suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Sacramento Crime Alert officials report.
According to authorities, Nelson approached a bicyclist Dec. 3, pulled the victim off her bike, struck her with a rock several times in the head and slammed her head to the ground.
Nelson, also known as Loebirda Kodama or "Sparkles," is described as 28 years old, 5-foot-7, weighing 175 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
She was last known to reside in the 3900 block of Balsam Street in the Robla area of Sacramento, authorities said.
Anyone with information about Nelson is urged to contact Crime Alert at (800) AA-CRIME or (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
From Niesha Lofing:
Sacramento police will be on the lookout today for drunken drivers downtown.
Police will hold a sobriety and drivers license checkpoint downtown to promote public safety, deter people from drinking and driving and increase awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving, a police news release states.
The location and time of the checkpoint will be released two hours before it's held.
The program is funded through a grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The police department also is encouraging the public to call 911 to report drunken drivers.
Callers should be prepared to describe the vehicle, its location and direction of travel, police said.
The following are indicators of drunken driving:
• Weaving or swerving in and out of lanes
• Erratic speeds
• Braking erratically or stopping in the lane
• Sudden stops for signal lights and slow start once they change
• Remaining at the signal lights once they turn green
• Making wide turns or striking curbs
• Headlights off at night or on high beams
• Driving with the turn signals on
• Straddling the center line of the road or lane lines
• Aggressive driving - speeding, tailgating, multiple lane changes or unsafe passing
Several law enforcement agencies will hold a warrant sweep Saturday. The warrant sweep is part of the Winter Mobilization Enforcement period. Allied agencies throughout the state are conducting maximum drunken driving enforcement operations through Jan. 1.
Agencies participating in the sweep include the Sacramento County sheriff's and probation departments and Folsom and Los Rios police departments.
From Stan Oklobdzija:
Despite the hiring freeze and the projected budget shortfall, the Sacramento Police Department was able to hire 11 additional officers from an academy class that graduated Thursday night at the Sacramento Convention Center.
Some last minute wrangling between Mayor Kevin Johnson and City Manager Rick Kerridge Thursday morning allowed the savings from positions left vacant during the department's hiring freeze to be transferred into signing up new officers said Johnson spokesman, Steve Maviglio.
The Sacramento Police Department still needs to close a $1.8 million shortfall in its budget to comply with mandated cuts.
The department is still technically in a hiring freeze, said police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong. While the department still accepts lateral transfers from other agencies, hiring academy grads allows the Sacramento Police Department to add bodies and save money.
"We're talking about folks where we get the cost savings by hiring them at the base salary," Leong said.
However, it will still take about six months to get the recruits hired on at the Sacramento Police Department, Leong said. New members of the department need to complete a mandatory background investigation and submit to various physical and psychological tests before they are hired, he said.
An entry level wage for a Sacramento Police officer is $15 per hour, Leong said. However, when factoring in the time it takes for another officer to train a recruit and other costs, hiring a new officer costs the department about $100,000 per year, he said. Field training for a new officer typically takes about six months, he said.
But adding officers is essential, even in during the recession, Leong said. Currents projections show the department will be down 98 officers at the beginning of the year, he said.
"When we come out of (the budget crisis), we don't want to be 100 to 200 officers down," he said.
One officer had already been hired on before he entered the academy, Leong said. That officer signed on before the department's current fiscal difficulties, he said.
Johnson officially made the announcement to a large round of applause at the academy graduation.
"This commitment (to public safety) is something I campaigned on and I'm very proud to say that we'll be able to keep these young people we invested in right here in Sacramento," Johnson said. "Crime doesn't wait on a struggling economy to get better."
The Sacramento Police Academy graduated 27 new officers in total this class. Some will go on to work at local departments such as the Roseville Police Department and the Woodland Police Department. Others will go on to work at more distant locales, such as the Berkeley Police Department and the Menlo Park Police Department.
From David Richie:
A Christmas star was shining over Roseville Wednesday night when some construction workers rescued a disoriented 79-year-old woman.
Donata Roble and her son had just moved to Roseville from Elk Grove the day before. Late Wednesday afternoon she wandered away from their home in the Westpark area, west of Fiddyment Road, a neighborhood so new that it is not even on Google Maps yet, said Dee Dee Gunther, Police Department spokeswoman.
With a freezing night fast approaching, "we pulled out all the stops in an effort to find her," Gunther said. Those efforts included activating the city's reverse 911 system so every resident with a telephone was contacted with a description of the lost woman.
About 15 police patrol and volunteer units began a search while a Placer County sheriff's helicopter began flying over the many open space areas. Placer County Search and Rescue also was alerted as well as local cab companies and hospitals in Roseville.
The big concern was that the frail, lightly clad woman with cognitive problems had wandered into the vast open fields surrounding the housing development, Gunther said.
"We really feared that this was going to have a bad outcome," Gunther said.
All the puzzle pieces have not been fitted together yet but it appears that Roble was found by a group of construction workers somewhere in the large area still under development.
Challenged by a language barrier, they eventually took her to a Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District station near the corner of Antelope and Roseville roads. From there paramedics transported her to Mercy San Juan Medical Center, Carmichael.
Roseville police dispatchers eventually got word that Roble was safe about 10:30 p.m. when an off-duty nurse saw a television report and recognized Roble as the unidentified woman who had been brought into the Mercy San Juan Hospital emergency room.
From Chelsea Phua
California Highway Patrol officers held a bell-ringing ceremony today at the CHP Academy to honor Joseph Paul Sanders, a Los Angeles area patrolman who was fatally struck by a car while directing traffic in the rain on early Monday.
"Officer Sanders joins an elite group of heroes who have sacrificed their lives for the premise of safety, service and security," said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow, who announced the end of Sanders watch at the ceremony, before the bell rang once.
Sanders, 29, was a graduate of Galt High School and a former Marine. He was assigned to the Santa Fe Springs Area office after he graduated from the CHP academy in December 2007.
Sanders was directing traffic at the scene of a collision on State Route 60 in the Hacienda Heights area of Los Angeles County on Monday when another collision happened nearby.
The impact caused one of the vehicles to veer out of control, hitting Sanders.
He was taken by helicopter to USC Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Sanders is survived by his wife, who is pregnant, and four children.
From David Richie:
The El Dorado County Sheriff's Special Weapons and Tactics team was called out Wednesday morning to apprehend a parolee who had allegedly hit his girlfriend with a stick before dragging her down a flight of stairs, a sheriff's spokesman said today.
Based on the parole status of William Marden (photo), officials decided to send the SWAT team to his address in the 4200 block of Tullis Mine Road, Diamond Springs, the spokesman said.
Marden was arrested without resistance and booked into El Dorado County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence and parole violation, the spokesman said.
From Andy Furillo:
Richard Allen Vancil went to Brenden Howton's North Highlands home to rob a man authorities described as a marijuana dealer, but when something went wrong, he wound up shooting Howton to death, a prosecutor said in his opening statement today.
"He went there to rob Brenden Howton," Deputy District Attorney Rick Miller told a Sacramento Superior Court jury on the first day of evidence in Vancil's trial. "It didn't go the way he wanted, it to, and he shot him at point-blank range."
Howton's landlord discovered the 24-year-old victim's body in his "ransacked" residence a couple days after the May 1, 2007, shooting, Miller said. Vancil, meanwhile, had left the Sacramento area, moving to Nampa, Idaho, outside Boise. An OxyContin drug abuser, Vancil told relatives he had moved to "get off drugs and get out of Sacramento," Miller said.
The Sacramento Sheriff's Department investigation led detectives to the Idaho relative's house where Vancil had been staying. At the Idaho house, Miller said detectives recovered the .357 caliber Glock semi-automatic handgun the defendant had purchased three months before the shooting, according to Miller.
A shell casing found at the scene of the Larchmont Drive shooting "conclusively" matched the gun, Miller said.
In his opening statement, defense lawyer Alan Whisenand said the case is "not a whodunit." Whisenand said there is no question that Vancil, now 26, shot and killed Howton, but that the circumstances surrounding the shooting did not constitute the legal definition of murder.
Whisenand described Vancil and Howton as "acquaintances" in the drug trade. The lawyer disputed that there was a robbery, saying that Howton still had his wallet with money in it.
Whisenand said the shooting was "perhaps testosterone" related, although he did not spell out what set off the shooting.
The lawyer also suggested that Vancil will testify on his own behalf during the trial.
From David Richie:
El Dorado County sheriff's deputies arrested a 59-year-old woman early Monday morning after she allegedly shot a 63-year-old neighbor, officials said today.
Daina Stratford Cullen is still in El Dorado County Jail today, facing charges of attempted murder and assault with a firearm.
Cullen called 911 about 5:15 a.m. Monday, reporting that she had just shot a man, officials said.
Deputies went to the area in the 2500 block of Mortara Circle in Placerville. The found a 63-year-old man with a gunshot wound in his chest. He was transported to University Medical Center, Sacramento for treatment, officials said in a news release.
There were no details available on his condition.
No motive for the shooting was given.
Cullen and the shooting victim evidently knew each other and lived in separate homes on the same property.
From Bee Staff
The family of a slain correctional officer and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association have joined to increase the reward to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the slaying of Correctional Officer Steve Lo.
Lo was shot to death Oct. 15 in front of his South Sacramento home as he prepared to leave for work. Lo, 39, is survived by a wife and five children.
"The Lo family hopes that this reward will encourage members of the public to come forward with information on this heinous murder so that his case can be resolved," said Sia Vang, Lo's widow.
A former Sacramento County Sheriff's Department deputy, Chu Vue, 43, has been named as a "principal" in the investigation into the Lo's slaying, according to an investigator's search warrant affidavit filed in Sacramento Superior Court.
Vue has not been charged in the Lo slaying. He has been charged with possession of an unregistered assault weapon and with converting the gun into something other than its manufacturer's design.
It was during the service of a search warrant that investigators found the unregistered .223-caliber assault weapon, court documents said.
Vue, who is free on $500,000 bail, has since been fired from the Sheriff's Department.
Anyone with information in the Lo case should call the Sacramento Police Department's tip line at (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous.
By Niesha Lofing:
Rancho Cordova police Chief Rueben Meeks is looking for people to serve on a new police advisory committee.
The newly formed Chief's Outreach Advisory Board is tasked with improving the quality of life and enhancing trust between the community and the police department, a police news release states.
Meeks wants a diverse team of people who will openly discuss ideas and concerns and educate the community on police-related issues.
Board members also will help create and improve problem-solving strategies for problems and issues the department faces, the release states.
Board members must live or work in the Rancho Cordova area and be willing to serve on the board for two years.
Applications can be downloaded from www.ranchocordovapd.com and are due, along with a letter of intent, by Dec. 31.
Applications can be sent to Debbie Cannon, Rancho Cordova Police Department, 10361 Rockingham Dr., Rancho Cordova, CA 95827.
Questions may be directed to Cannon at (916) 606-1378 or dcannon@ranchocordovapd.com
From Niesha Lofing:
Law enforcement and prosecutors throughout the state are cracking down on drunken drivers this holiday season.
The state Office of Traffic Safety has awarded $5.2 million in grants to 111 law enforcement agencies for upcoming sobriety checkpoints, an OTS news release states.
Locally, Elk Grove, Galt, Lodi and West Sacramento police departments are slated to receive a portion of the funding, said Chris Cochran, spokesman for OTS.
The number of sobriety checkpoints the $5.2 million will fund isn't available because funding for checkpoints varies widely, he said.
The checkpoints primarily will be during the next few weeks, but some jurisdictions might use the funding for checkpoints during other holidays in 2009.
Motorists caught driving while intoxicated likely will face a harder time in court due to OTS funding a specialized training program for California prosecutors.
Trainers will go to district attorney's offices to hold sessions for local prosecutors. A new database and other materials for prosecutors also will be available through the program.
"In the past, DUI prosecutors were assigned to cases that morning and had to go in and just do the best they could," Cochran said. "It might be the lowest person on the totem pole, and so when they run up against a career DUI defense lawyer, they didn't have the knowledge to back up their case.
"This training puts them in a much better position of getting a successful conviction."
Last year, 1,616 Californians were killed in alcohol-related crashes, an 8.3 percent decrease from 2006. Last year was the first since 1998 that alcohol-related fatalities declined, the release states.
More than 203,000 drunken driving arrests were made throughout the state last year.
"Law enforcement needs the public's help to keep California roadways safe this holiday season," the release states.
Officials from several state and local agencies will hold an 11 a.m. news conference today to discuss details of the campaign.
By Niesha Lofing:
A sobriety checkpoint late last week in West Sacramento resulted in four people arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
The checkpoint was from 9 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday.
Sixteen officers form the "Avoid the 8" team stopped and screened 374 drivers, conducted five sobriety tests and arrested four people for drunken driving at the checkpoint, a Davis police news release states.
Officers also made one drug arrest at the checkpoint, suspended licenses of four drives and issued nine citations.
The "Avoid the 8" team also will be conducting saturation patrols on New Year's Eve.
Elsewhere in Yolo County, one person was arrested during a drunken driving warrant sweep early Saturday morning.
Yolo County Probation Officers conducted the sweep and probation searches throughout the county, evaluating people for indications they were in violation of the terms and conditions of their probation, a news release states.
Officers attempted to serve 12 warrants and of those, two warrants were successfully served. Officers also attempted to conduct five probation searches. Of those, two probation searches were completed.
Two probationers were contacted and one was found to be in violation of probation and arrested for alcohol-related violations.
From Andy Furillo:
A Sacramento jury today convicted one defendant of first-degree murder while another panel in the same case came within one vote of returning a guilty verdict against a second defendant.
The conviction was returned against Wayne Albert Caskey while the deadlocked jury will mean a retrial for Bennett Louis Kovac. The panel had voted 11-1 for Kovac's guilt.
Caskey, 46, and Kovac, 45, were on trial for the June 11, 2006, shooting death of 45-year-old Gary R. Brooks in his father's south Sacramento electronics business.
Prosecutors said the murder resulted from an argument that had taken place between Brooks and Caskey.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael P. Kenny set Caskey's sentencing date for Jan. 16. Kovac's retrial has been scheduled for Feb. 10.
From Bee Staff:
A mother who drove from Davis to Nebraska to drop her 14-year-old son off at a hospital for safekeeping will not be charged with any crime, the Yolo County District Attorney said Wednesday.
"The Mother was taking advantage of the Nebraska Safe Haven Law by dropping her son off prior to the law being changed in Nebraska," the district attorney said in a press release.
"After reviewing a thorough investigation which was conducted by the Davis Police Department, this office finds that there is insufficient evidence present to justify filing criminal charges against the mother."
The DA said in the release that the investigation revealed that no force was used in getting the son from California to Nebraska. Also, the investigation found that due to the son's age, California abandonment laws did not apply.
The boy, who returned last month, is staying in a foster home until he can be further assessed by the county Department of Employment and Social Services.
The boy's mother drove 1,600 miles from Davis to Kimball, Neb., hospital to drop off her troubled son on Nov 21. She told The Bee she felt she had run out of options in dealing with the boy and sought to take advantage of Nebraska's law before it was amended to apply only to abandoned infants.
The Bee is not identifying the woman to protect the identity of the juveniles involved.
From Niesha Lofing:
An alleged vehicle burglary, a high-speed pursuit and a car crash in Rocklin ended in one man's arrest Tuesday afternoon.
Rocklin police received a report at 1:40 p.m. Tuesday of a vehicle burglary having occurred behind the Long's Drugs at 4785 Granite Drive, a police news release states.
Officers spotted the alleged thieves' vehicle in the area and found that the car had been recently reported stolen out of Roseville.
Officers tried to stop the car, but the vehicle fled the scene and led officers on a high-speed chase on westbound Interstate 80. The pursuit ended when the car got off the freeway at Atlantic Street and crashed into a tree, the release states.
The driver and passenger ran from the crash.
The passenger, Timothy Simmons, 29, of North Highlands, was arrested on suspicion of burglary and possession of stolen property. He is being held in lieu of $5,000 bail in Placer County jail in Auburn.
The driver was not located, the release states.
Officers found stolen property in the stolen vehicle, including a GPS device.
The subjects are believed to be connected with other alleged thefts in the Rocklin area, the release states.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Rocklin police at (916) 625-5434.
From Niesha Lofing:
Sacramento law enforcement officers are planning to help spread comfort and joy to area homeless people today.
Sacramento police and California Highway Patrol Valley Division officers will donate about 35 duty jackets to people at 4:30 p.m. at Cal Expo's Winter Shelter.
"It's a cooperative effort to keep homeless people warm and alive this winter," said Sacramento police Officer Konrad Von Schoech.
The two agencies have been collecting the winter duty jackets -- which are extremely warm and weather resistant -- for the "Cop Coats" campaign and rejuvenating them.
Law enforcement patches were removed and reflective strips were added to enhance the wearer's visibility.
The coats cost about $300 each, and many officers ware their duty jackets throughout their career. Sacramento police buy the jackets with their own money.
"We're very grateful to our officers who donated their coats," Von Schoech said.
From David Richie:
A multiple agency drug task force hit nine suspected indoor marijuana growing operations in rural El Dorado County and Nevada County earlier today, seizing pot, guns, cultivation equipment and about $625,000 in cash.
A total of 10 search warrants and five arrest warrants were served.
About 200 law enforcement officers from the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. Forest Service and many other agencies participated in the coordinated raids.
"All the locations were hit around 10 a.m. and everything went smoothly," said Sgt. Bryan Golmitz, spokesman for the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office.
In a press release, Attorney General Jerry Brown noted that armed guards protected the sites and he called the indoor growing operations "a threat to public safety."
Officers confiscated approximately 2,100 plants, 100 pounds of processed marijuana, about $625,000 in cash along with numerous lights and generators used in the growing operations.
They also found two handguns, three rifles, and five shotguns.
Search warrants were served at six locations in El Dorado County. Those homes were located on Silver Ridge Court, Camino, High Twist Lane, and Grizzly Court, Somerset, Fort Jim Road, Placerville, Mosquito Road, Swansboro, and Spring Valley Road in Pollock Pines.
Three warrants also were served Nevada County but Golmitz did not have those locations.
The raids came after a two-month investigation.
State officials said the investigation started with the discovery of an outdoor marijuana growing operation in Pollock Pines. Agents then determined that the same suspects had recently spent millions of dollars to purchase other properties in El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Mendocino, Sacramento, Alameda, and San Francisco counties.
That land-buying spree had been going on for four years.
Numerous suspects were detained during the raids but officials were still questioning them late Tuesday afternoon and none had been booked yet into local jails.
From Chelsea Phua
Sacramento police on Tuesday arrested Matthew Riley in connection with the murders of his parents, found slain in their south Natomas home last week, a police spokesman said.
Riley is accused of killing his parents, Steven, 54 and Linda, 53, police said. He was arrested on suspicion of two counts of murder.
Police arrested him at 4:20 p.m. in Roseville, Sgt Norm Leong said.
Police said their investigation led them to believe that he committed the murders, but did not divulge details. The motive for his alleged killing has not been determined, Leong said.
Matt Riley, 30, had told police that he found his parents with multiple stab wounds last Tuesday afternoon when he stopped by their home on Paddle Wheel Court.
Steven Riley was an information systems analyst at the California Public Employee's Retirement System and Linda Riley worked as a pension program manager at the California State Teachers' Retirement System.
Colleagues and neighbors spoke highly of the couple, saying they doted on their two granddaughters, who are Matt Riley's children.
From Andy Furillo:
A condemned child sex murderer from San Bernardino County has killed himself on San Quentin's death row, authorities confirmed today.
Terrance Charles Page, 57, apparently hung himself. Officers discovered his body on Dec. 5.
Page had been convicted of the April 23, 1993, murder, sexual assault and kidnap of 6-year-old Tahisha Clay. Her beaten and suffocated body had been found in a mine pit outside Barstow, where both she and Page lived.
Another death row inmate, meanwhile, has died of natural causes. Isaac Gutierrez, 64, was a parolee who murdered Billy Faye Jones, a woman who had befriended him while he was in prison, and John Stopher, his ex-wife's boyfriend. Both murders took place on Oct. 31, 1986.
Gutierrez died in a hospital Dec. 7.
Sixteen death-row inmates have died of suicides and 42 from natural causes since California reinstated capital punishment in 1978. Thirteen have been executed, one was executed in Missouri and five died from what San Quentin authorities described as "other causes."
From Andy Furillo:
One or more gunmen early today shot up the residence of a Del Paso Heights man who testified Monday in a Sacramento murder trial, police said.
Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said officers responded to a 1:23 a.m. call at the Elm Street house where the witness, Brandon Jay Boyer, who also has acted as an informant in recent years for local police and federal drug agents, had lived.
Authorities relocated Boyer last week as a result of his testimony against accused murderer Myron Jerome Hardy.
Leong said officers found "several bullet holes in the house." Initial reports did not indicate if anyone was in the home, Leong said.
Boyer testified in open court that he saw Hardy shoot and kill Danny Hickman at a Del Paso Heights street party in the early-morning hours of Jan. 1, 2007. He also testified that he saw Hardy try and ditch some of the clothing that he was wearing during the shooting.
Federal defenders who represented Boyer in a drug case had sought to prevent the Sacramento district attorney's office from releasing his identity, saying that he was in danger because of his past work on behalf of local homicide investigators and federal drug agents.
At an evidentiary hearing last Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court, Boyer testified that "My family's in danger -- by people on the street" as a result of his cooperation with authorities.
The Bee published a story Sunday about Boyer's testimony and his history as an informant.
Asked if he thought that Boyer's testimony and past history or the publication of Sunday's story may have contributed to this morning's shooting, Leong said, "Although we can't tie the shooting directly to that, we certainly believe it did not help that his name was exposed."
The District Attorney's Office, through spokeswoman Shelly Orio, declined comment.
From Stan Oklobdzija:
A 46-year-old man who was in a five-hour standoff in the Pocket neighborhood on Monday has been arrested, Sacramento Police Department officials said.
Watson Vuniivi was taken into custody at about 2 p.m. on Greenhaven Drive, said Off. Konrad Von Shoech, police spokesman. Vuniivi was on his way back to a residence that police had surrounded since 9 a.m., thinking Vuniivi and another woman were barricaded inside, Von Shoech said.
The incident on the 6600 block of Greenhaven began with a report of domestic violence and a man with a gun. A woman fled from the house to the home of a neighbor, who then called police.
Officers arriving at the scene believed the man remained inside accompanied by an aunt of the woman who fled. But when the second woman walked safely out of the home, authorities realized the man already had left the home.
Vuniivi was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and making criminal threats, Von Shoech said.
From Stan Oklobdzija:
An arrest has been made in connection with a Halloween shooting that killed an 18-year-old man and injured another, Sacramento County Sheriff's officials said.
Joseph Raymond Buttelo was arrested Friday evening in the 2600 block of Bell Street, sheriff's officials said. According to the sheriff's department, Buttelo allegedly shot and killed Gustavo Lopez following an argument in the 2700 block of Lerwick Road.
The victims were shot after the van they were riding in stopped and the occupants traded words with three pedestrians, two men and a woman.
According to sheriff's officials, Buttelo pulled a gun and fired into the van, striking two passengers, officials said.
The second victim, 19, was expected to survive a gunshot wound in his lower body.
From Bee Staff
Law enforcement officials in southern Placer County will be on extra alert this weekend for motorists driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Officers from Roseville, Rocklin and Lincoln will be on the lookout beginning Friday night and continuing into Saturday. Beefed up efforts will also be in place Dec. 27, according to a press release issued Monday.
The stepped-up enforcement is being funded with a grant from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
From Andy Furillo:
The Trigga Mobb's self-described "five star general" and a soldier in his north side street gang were sentenced to life terms in prison today for the retaliation shooting of a man they thought to be an informant.
Lerome "L'il Rome" Franklin, 25, was sentenced to 75-years-to life and Floyd "YG" Martin, 22, received a 50-to-life term for the March 15, 2007, shooting that took place outside a motel on El Camino Avenue.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Gary S. Mullen denied new trial motions filed by the defendants, who were convicted on Aug. 5.
According to testimony at trial, Franklin, who had just been arrested on robbery charges prior to the shooting, thought a Del Paso Heights gang associate was responsible for his incarceration.
Franklin then engaged in telephone conversations with Martin from the downtown jail that were recorded in which he ordered the shootings, according to police and prosecutors.
The victim in the case recovered from his injuries, testified against Franklin and Martin at trial and was later relocated by the Sacramento District Attorney's office.
From Andy Furillo:
A Sacramento courtroom exploded into epithets and threatened recriminations today after a convicted murder who was about to get sentenced to two life terms told the victim's family, "All I can say is, I'm here and he's not."
The unprintable responses by the family and friends of the murder victim, Hector Manuel "Bam" Barrera prompted bailiffs to clear the courtroom of about 20 people. None of them were arrested.
Linda Birlew Boettcher, the mother of Barrera's girlfriend, said the comments of the convicted murderer, Edwin Arthur Stevenson, 19, who also smirked and smiled while the victims' relatives read their impact statements to the court, showed "he had no remorse."
"Bam will always be in our hearts," Boettcher said. "He (Stevenson) doesn't have anybody in his heart. He don't even got a heart."
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Kevin J. McCormick sentenced Stevenson to two 25-to-life terms, plus an additional 10 years in prison, for the gang-related March 6, 2006, shooting death of Barrera, 25, at a party the victim was throwing at his house in Southside Park.
Another defendant in the case, Panfilo Torres, 23, was sentenced to 14 years today for his conviction on assault with a deadly weapon.
Prosecutors still have not decided whether to retry a third defendant in the case, Kenneth Anderson, 32, who was acquitted of the murder but still faces a gun-related charge as a result of a jury's failure to come to a decision on that count.
Deputy District Attorney Tan Thinh said his office is expected to make a decision by next week on whether to retry Anderson.
From Sandy Louey:
A19-year-old Sacramento man killed in a shootout with a Rancho Cordova police officer Sunday night died from a self-inflicted wound, authorities said in a follow-up report.
The Sacramento County Coroner's Office indicated that the fatal wound suffered by Donald Frederick Robinson was self-inflicted, said Sgt. R.L. Davis, spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.
The police officer, Deputy Kelli Maness, shot Robinson after he fired several rounds at her while she tried to talk to him at the Circle K convenience store in the 3300 block of Mather Field Road, the Sheriff's Department said.
Maness was responding to a domestic disturbance call received at 8:50 p.m. She was struck by gunfire, but her bulletproof vest protected her, Davis said.
The Sheriff's Department contracts police services to Rancho Cordova. Maness, a 10-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department, has been assigned to the Rancho Cordova Police Department for 18 months.
She was placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard practice in such cases.
The Sheriff's Department homicide unit, internal affairs and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office are investigating the shooting.
From Sandy Louey:
Sacramento police have arrested three teens believed to be responsible for three Natomas area armed robberies.
The three, a 17-year-old and two 15-year-olds, were arrested on suspicion of robbery in West Sacramento Tuesday night.
They were arrested after a person called the police with information about the suspects, said Officer Michelle Lazark, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento Police Department.
Police said the teens are responsible for robbing three businesses: the Pizza Hut at 604 W. El Camino Ave. on Nov. 13; the Mountain Mike's Pizza restaurant at 1589 W. El Camino Ave.; and the Wendy's at 4180 Northgate Blvd. on Dec. 1.
In all the robberies, the robbers pulled shirts over their heads and used a handgun to take money from the cash registers, police said.
Lazark said police are looking to see if the three are connected with other robberies.
The Bee is not identifying the suspects because they are juveniles.
Below is one of the surveillance photos, released earlier by police, that was taken at one of the robberies.
From Sandy Louey:
From Sandy Louey:
An 18-year-old Elk Grove man who was out looking for his dog was thrown to the ground by another man Wednesday night.
Around 9 p.m., the man was near his home in the area of Stonebrook Drive and Stone Springs Way when four men approached him. One of the men grabbed him and threw him to the ground, according to a report from the Elk Grove Police Department.
The man suffered minor injuries and received medical treatment. The four men left the area, police said.
From Sandy Louey:
A 23-year-old Roseville man has been arrested for allegedly torturing and killing guinea pigs.
Detectives conducted surveillance in the Secret Ravine Parkway where several dead guinea pigs had been discarded. Ryan Paul Junaid was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of cruelty to animals, according to police.
An injured guinea pig which was rescued has received veterinary care and is recovering, police said.
Junaid, who was released on a $10,000 bail bond, is scheduled to be in court Jan. 6, records show.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call police at (916) 774-5070.
Suspect arrested after hidden-camera laptop photos released
From Bee Staff:
Sacramento police officers arrested Derek Coleman, (photo) 44, today for possession of stolen property in connection with the stolen laptop from the Hiram Johnson High School office, investigators said.
Two images were taken from the anti-theft program on the computer that allowed detectives to capture two images of Coleman using the stolen computer, according to a press release.
After the media aired the story and the photos, an anonymous citizen called the department's Public Information Office and gave Sgt. Norm Leong information on Coleman which resulted in his arrest, the release said.
The investigation is still ongoing, and it has not been determined whether Coleman was the one who burglarized the school and took the computer, the release said.
Coleman was booked into the Sacramento County Jail, records show.
From: Andy Furillo
One jury has reached a verdict in a double-defendant Sacramento murder trial, but a judge today delayed making it public until the second panel in the same case concludes its deliberations.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael P. Kenny told the jury that has reached a verdict on Wayne Caskey that he did not want press reports on the outcome of his case to possibly influence deliberations are still under way with a second jury on co-defendant Bennett Louis Kovac.
The two are accused in the June 11, 2006, shooting death of Gary R. Brooks, 45, in the victim's father's electronics shop in south Sacramento.
Jurors in the Kovac case told the judge earlier that were unable to reach a verdict. Kenny sent them back to continue deliberations, however, when the foreman reported that one member of the panel indicated earlier today that he or she had changed their mind.
From Stan Oklobdzija:
The Sacramento Police Department is searching for a man in connection with a shooting in the North Sacramento area Wednesday night, police officials said.
A Latino man in his late 20s to early 30s was wounded by shotgun blasts outside a home near Fairfield Street and Lee Drive at about 8 p.m., said Sgt. Lai Lai Bui of the Sacramento Police Department.
The man's wounds do not appear life-threatening. He is in stable condition at UC Davis Medical Center, Bui said.
Police describe the possible shooter as a white or Latino man between 18 and 19 years old. He left the scene on foot and was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, Bui said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Sacramento Police Department at (916) 443-HELP.
From Sandy Louey
A 49-year-old man wanted in connection for a string of Placer County burglaries and robberies was arrested Tuesday.
The Placer County Sheriff's Department arrested David Lee Todd (left) at an Auburn home around 5 p.m., according to a press release.
On Nov. 21, he caught on videotape kicking in the door and burglarizing the pro shop at the Raspberry Hill Golf Course at 14500 Musso Road in Auburn, investigators said. He stole candy from the shop, according to the Sheriff's Department.
He was arrested on suspicion of robbery and a $50,000 burglary warrant. Additional charges are pending against Todd involving cases from the California Highway Patrol and the Auburn Police Department, authorities said.
From Sandy Louey:
Authorities are searching for a man who robbed a Washington Mutual Bank Tuesday.
At 11 a.m., a man went into the bank at 9165 Kiefer Boulevard. The man, who indicated he was armed, demanded money from a teller.
After he got the money, he left on a bicycle, according to a press release Wednesday from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.
The robber is described as an Asian male in his late 20's or 30's, 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 8 inches tall with a medium build, authorities said.
He had dark hair and a mustache. He wore a dark-colored baseball cap, a red long sleeve jacket with a design on it and blue jeans, the release said.
The Sacramento Violent Crimes Task Force, which includes the FBI and the Sheriff's Department, is investigating the bank robbery.
Anyone with information is asked to call sheriff's detectives at (916) 874-5115 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
From Andy Furillo:
A Sacramento jury today convicted a 17-year-old girl of murder in the shooting death of another teenager three years ago in a south area park.
Sarah Weeden sobbed that the verdict was "not fair," just before bailiffs led her out of the courtroom in handcuffs and into custody. She had been free on $500,000 bail.
Weeden is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 6 by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Maryanne G. Gilliard.
Another jury already convicted the man who shot and killed the victim, Navnil Chand, 17, in what started out as a robbery. Sirtice Melonson, 23, is scheduled for a Jan. 23 sentencing.
Deputy District Attorney Jeff Ritschard said Weeden, then 14, set up the planned robbery of Chand that ultimately resulted in Melonson shooting him dead.
The jury also found Weeden guilty of two counts of attempted robbery, but acquitted her of attempted murder in the shooting of a man who accompanied Chand to Caymus Park in unincorporated Sacramento on the night of the homicide.
From Sandy Louey:
Rocklin police arrested a 19-year-old man Tuesday for allegedly using a metal pipe to hit a man, according to a press release.
Around 5 p.m., police responded to a 911 call on Sage Court from a woman who reported a man had sought refuge in her home after he had been attacked with a metal pipe, the release said.
The attacker was known to the man and witnesses, the release said.
Officers were provided with information that helped locate the suspect on Sammy Way. After a search, officers arrested Nicholas Robert Baker of Rocklin on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, police said.
The man who was attacked reported being struck with a piece of a vehicle rack. The weapon was located where Baker was arrested, police said.
Police said the victim suffered minor injuries to his back.
From Andy Furillo:
The owners of a crime-wracked North Sacramento apartment complex are going to have to keep living there until next week while the local courts decide whether to shut the place down for good, a judge decided today.
Supervising Deputy City Attorney Matt Ruyak said visiting Superior Court Judge John Anton stayed a pending order to close the Dixieanne Apartments in the 700 block of Dixieanne Avenue until Judge Loren McMaster, who issued the tentative ruling on shutting down the complex known as "The Compound," returns to court on Monday.
In the meantime, at least one of the owners of the complex, William and Blessing Iyasere, must remain on the premises around the clock, Ruyak said.
Police say the apartment complex is one of the worst on the north side in terms of gang and drug activity.
A trial on the city's attempt to shutter the complex also has been delayed due to lack of courtroom space. Ruyak said attorneys hope to get a trial date tomorrow.
From Bee Staff:
The UC Davis Health System is seeking the public's help in locating a 59-year-old man with schizophrenia who was last seen at UC Davis Medical Center during the early morning hours of Wednesday, according to a press release.
Doy Ragland (left) has severe dementia associated with schizophrenia and is in need of medication, the release said. He may be agitated and upset, the release said.
Ragland was last seen wearing a dark blue, zippered and hooded sweatshirt by Quicksilver, dark-gray sweatpants and white tennis shoes with Velcro straps, the release said. His name is printed on his shoes, and he may be wearing a UC Davis Medical Center wristband bearing his name, the release said.
Ragland is white, is 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs 175 pounds, the release said. He is bald with stands of grey hair, and has brown eyes. Ragland walks very slowly, the release said.
Anyone with information about Ragland's whereabouts should contact the UC Davis Police Department at (916) 734-2555 or (530) 752-1230.
From Sandy Louey:
Sacramento police are asking for the public's help in finding a woman who reportedly stole a wedding gift package from the front porch of a home.
Police have released photo (left) captured from home surveillance video of the Sept. 9 incident.
The woman was seen on the video circling the block three times before stopping, getting out of her vehicle and walking up to the porch of the home on Coloma Way.
She took the package and ran back to her car, according to a press release from the Sacramento Police Department.
The woman is described as white, possibly in her 20s. She has auburn-colored hair and was wearing a red T-shirt and white capri pants. She was driving a dark-colored two-door hatchback, similar to a Ford Focus.
Anyone with information is asked to call the department's Neighborhood Crimes Unit at (916) 808-8889.
From Bee Staff:
The following is a partial incident report for the period Nov. 25-Dec. 1 from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department. The report has been compiled to include arrests and violent incidents.
Nov. 25
A suspect was stopped for riding his bicycle in opposing traffic and riding on the sidewalk at A Street and San Vincente Way. The suspect stated he did not speak English, but produced his wallet when asked for identification. A search of the wallet for identification revealed several baggies containing a clear crystalline substance (methamphetamine).
The suspect was taken into custody and a further search revealed additional baggies of the clear crystalline substance, marijuana (in packaging) and several empty style baggies. The suspect was also found to be in possession of a glass narcotic smoking pipe with burnt residue. Arrested: Pancheco Santiago, 44.
•
Victim and suspect do not live together but have a child together. While the victim was taking out the trash at residence in the 3800 block of Marconi Avenue, she was attacked by suspect, described as a black male, 6 feet, 1 inch tall, weighing 175 pounds.
The suspect grabbed the victim by the front of her sweatshirt and punched her in the ribs multiple times. Suspect left in a vehicle in an unknown direction. The victim did not require medical attention.
•
A suspect entered victim business where he selected merchandise. The suspect fled victim business with the stolen merchandise. The suspect was detained outside the victim business and placed under a private person's arrest. The suspect was booked on related charges. Arrested: Oliver Schamburg, 47.
•
A suspect entered the victim business in the 4700 block of Manzanita Avenue. The suspect selected merchandise and then exited the business without paying for the merchandise after passing all points of sale. A loss prevention employee contacted and detained the suspect outside of the business. The suspect was placed under a private person's arrest. Arrested: Steven Sheppard, 23.
•
First suspect was driving a reported stolen vehicle near Power Inn Road and Scottsdale Drive. The suspect was stopped and arrested without incident. The second suspect was named as the suspect in the original vehicle theft. Second suspect was arrested at the vehicle stop location. Arrested: Mark Contrell, 35; Alison Pina, 31.
•
Suspect entered business in the 2700 block of Marconi Avenue and selected merchandise from a display shelf. Suspect then exited the business without making any attempt to pay for the merchandise. Suspect was stopped and detained outside the business by loss prevention officers. Deputies were contacted. Records also indicated that suspect was a parolee at large. Suspect was taken into custody and booked at the Sacramento County Main Jail. Parole was contacted and advised. Arrested: David White, 57.
•
Victim and the suspect are in a committed relationship and live together in the 2200 block of Hurley Way. The suspect hit the victim on the bridge of her nose with the metal buckle of a belt. The victim sustained bruising and bleeding to the bridge of her nose. The suspect is described a black male, 28, 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 175 pounds.
•
Nov. 26
The suspect entered a business in the 4700 block of Marconi Avenue with a forged, endorsed, and fraudulent check made out to himself and attempted to deposit it into his bank account. The check belonged to someone who was not at the scene but had his account closed and flagged for fraud. Arrested: Antonio Guzman, 19.
•
Two suspects entered a bank in the 900 block of Howe Avenue. They attempted to open an account. A bank employee became suspicious of a completed check presented by suspects to be used in opening the account. Initially, the employee believed the check had been stolen and contacted the Sheriff's Department. During the investigation, it was determined the presented check was from a valid account and officers contacted the account holder (and one of the suspect's nephew). The account-holder confirmed that he did not write the check to the suspects nor did he give authorization to the suspects pertaining to any activities on his account. Officers also discovered two additional blank checks from the victim's account in one of the suspect's possession. The victim confirmed his desire for prosecution against the suspects. Arrested: Alexandra Perez, 18; Angelina Walters, 27.
•
The suspect and the victim had a dating relationship and a child in common. The victim had given the suspect a ride to her residence in the 1400 block of Bell Street, after which a verbal altercation took place. The suspect reached into the driver's side door and began choking the victim, after which victim put her vehicle in reverse and drove off. The victim's door was damaged when it struck the suspect from behind. The victim drove a short distance down the street and realized she was unable to shut her door. The victim also had her 3-three-year-old daughter in the vehicle at the time of the incident. The victim returned to her residence. As the suspect was walking away, The suspect yelled at the victim that he was going to kill her. A record check of the suspect revealed a temporary restraining order with the protective persons being the victim and their daughter. Arrested: Denver Davis, 49.
•
Nov. 27
Two suspects were standing outside in the 3900 block of Fruitridge Road. One suspect was armed with a shotgun. The victim works for a courier company and was checking a drop box at the same location. One suspect pointed the shotgun at the victim and demanded his wallet. The victim complied with the suspect's demand and handed over his wallet. One suspect reached into the victim's pants pocket and took money that was inside the pocket. Both suspects then fled the scene on foot. One suspects is described as a black male, age 18-21, 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds. No description on the second suspect.
•
The suspect was stopped for false registration tags on the vehicle he was driving. During a probation search of the suspect's vehicle, officer located a plastic bag hidden inside the vehicle dashboard. The plastic bag contained twenty small bags, which contained marijuana. Officer also located empty bags hidden inside of driver's door. Arrested: Jabarie Burks, 19.
•
The victim and the suspect have two children in common. They had an argument in the 5300 block of Hackberry Lane that became physical. The suspect slapped the victim in the face with an open hand causing minor injury to the victim. The suspect was contacted by officers near the scene. Arrested: Gerald Harris, 52.
•
Nov. 28
The suspect entered a business in the 3400 block of El Camino Avenue and selected merchandise from display shelves. The suspect put t
